Phantasy Star III Beyond Reality
by The Good Doctor
Summary: This is a 3-way crossover between Phantasy Star 3, the "Real World", and another RPG for the Genesis. Shortly after defeating Dark Force, the Alis III comes into the orbit of a new planet...
1. Chapter 1

Two women walked into a small house in corner of the kingdom of Landen. One of them was tall, brown-haired woman dressed in white armor and wearing a white cape. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. With every step there was a light _clang_ made from one of the two daggers she wore hitting against the sword she wore, a symbol of royalty.

The other woman was a bit shorter. She wore a red suit of armor distinguished by white shoulder guards. Her long blond hair was in braid. She stood out from other people not only by her armor, but also by a red jewel that she wore on her forehead. Although she was not a huntress, she always walked with a bow slung on her shoulder.

Upon entering the house, they were greeted by an old woman who sat at a table in the parlor. On the other side of the table were two chairs.

"Please sit down, your majesty," the old lady said kindly. "And this must be the ethereal Princess Laya. It is an honor."

Laya, the blonde woman, bowed her head in respect and sat down, as did Queen Sari, her companion.

"Before we begin, let me congratulate you on the triumph of your quest. You all must have fought gallantly."

"But I didn't fight against the Dark Force," Sari corrected.

"Oh, but you sowed the seeds that led to its demise. You are to be commended as much as Prince Sean, Princess Laya, and the rest of the party."

Sari blushed.

"Now that darkness has been expelled from our land, new challenges and new triumphs await you both, just as they await everyone here."

Sari and Laya looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Madam," Laya began. "Are these challenges and triumphs of a personal nature or are they for everyone?"

"The two are the same. Your personal triumphs will lead to the triumph of the people. But you know that the triumphs are only sweet after the bitter trials."

"Well, I can safely say that I've had more than my fair share of bitter trials. I can't wait for the sweet victory."

"Although, Sari," Laya mentioned, "I would note that your friendship with Ayn reconciliation with Rhys _and _Kara, and the fact that you have your so-called nephew Prince Sean would be little triumphs."

"Yeah, I know," Sari sighed.

"All I can tell you two things at this very moment. First of all, I have dreamt that, on the day of Prince Sean's wedding, the _Alis III_ shall enter the orbit of a new, habitable land."

"Wow, that is good news." Laya said cheerfully. "And the other?"

The fortuneteller smiled, "Your lives will change on the night of Prince Sean's wedding with the sudden arrival of some unexpected guests."

Corg, Piotr, and Jack lay out on the lawn in front of Piotr's parent's house. They had spent the last seven hours playing _Phantasy Star III_, trying to finish the game off. It was a special mission of theirs, as Corg's wife, Cristy had become pregnant. All of them realized that Corg's being a father would make some drastic differences in his life. He wouldn't have the time to visit and play video games like he used to. Work, school, marriage, and fatherhood would become the main focus of his life. Corg was able to convince Cristy to let them play (and beat) just one more role-playing game together, just for "ol' times sake." She'd have to let go of her husband for a couple of weekends, but after a little convincing she gave them her blessing.

"Wow, so we finally did it, didn't we?" Corg commented, his pale white skin glowing in the moonlight.

"Heck yeah! We hecka learned the Dark Force!" Piotr responded.

"Dude! The sucker was pretty sucker though, always trying to heal himself," Jack commented.

"Yeah, well. After severing that hand of his, we put an end to that nonsense," Corg said.

"Well, the stupid had it coming," Piotr said.

"So guys, what did you think of this whole experience? You know, us getting together, deciding on a wife for our characters, and stuff? How was it?" Corg asked earnestly.

"It was phatty awesome, dawg. Hecka constitutes some of the best memories I have playing games," Jack responded.

"Yeah, playing video games is always better when you do it with the crew. Doing this stuff alone just doesn't cut it," Piotr said.

"Well, I hope we have more opportunities later on down the road," Corg mused. "I think we will, just not quite as often."

"Yeah, although busting out the RPGs like this—I'm not sure," Jack said.

"I got an idea!" Corg blurted out. "We could always do it by emulator."

"Duuuuuude! You mean, like trading the 'Save State' and stuff?" Jack asked.

"Exactly. That's exactly what I mean. It's not the same thing, but it still could work."

"Corg, I hecka need to beat you for that," Piotr laughed. Both him and Jack tapped Corg on the side of the head.

"Hey guys?" Corg asked.

"Yeah?" both of them said.

"When you were younger, did you ever imagine yourselves in the video games you played? You know, bustin' it out with the heroes and stuff."

"Me, not so much…a little," Piotr answered. "It would be pretty tight, though."

"I hecka did," Jack said. "I always imagined myself in the _Double Dragon _games, hecka bustin out the flying knees and beating the peepz down with bats and stuff. What about you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"In what? Hecka the _Street Fighter II_?" asked Jack tauntingly. "You know you wanted a piece of the Chun Li."

Corg blushed. "Any game where I could just bust out the phatty beatage and kick it with some schwing woman, that's where I wanted to be."

"Here's to that," Jack said.

"You both are pretty sucker," Piotr said. "Hecka wanting to get up in the gameage. I don't know. I guess I didn't have as much exposure as you guys did. Although, maybe going a quest with the crew would be just as phatty as doing it through a video game."

"Maybe we still can, maybe just one last time," Corg said.

The other two laughed.

"You can always depend on Corg for these wacky ideas. I think he must use some sort fine weed to get these ideas," Piotr joked. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

Corg hesitated for a moment. "Hm…Okay. Close your eyes…"

All three of them closed their eyes.

"Imagine they game we just got done playing…"

"Okay," said Jack.

"Done and done," said Piotr.

"Now finally, imagine us there to receive the Sean and his friends as they arrive triumphant from their quest to destroy Dark Force. Imagine yourselves surrounded by all the great heroes of the game. Imagine seeing the great weapons and the festivities and whatever you think happened after that."

And all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dude, you aiite?" were the first words that Piotr heard Jack say when he opened his eyes. Piotr blinked a few times and looked around. Instead of houses and a street, there was mostly just a green field with a few small clusters of trees scattered about.

"Yeah, I'm cool. Where are we?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm beginning to think that Corg's little trick backfired on us, the sorry fool." Jack answered laughing. "Take a good look at me and you'll see why."

Piotr looked over at Jack and noticed that his clothes were different. Instead of the tank top and jeans Jack had been wearing, he was wearing what appeared to be a black robe of sorts. The robe was open at the chest, but Piotr noticed that that Jack was wearing some sort of wire mesh armor.

"Dude, what's up with that?" Piotr exclaimed.

"Hecka didn't notice?" Jack asked with a smile. "It's hecka my ninja garb. Look at yourself, dawg."

Piotr looked down at himself. Instead of the usual T-shirt and shorts, he was wearing some sort of armor. He noticed that the color was reminiscent of desert-camo.

"Man! What the heck?" Piotr said, almost jumping up.

"Dude, you look kind of like Universal Soldier, dawg."

"Ah yeah, huh," came bewildered response. "So, you been awake for long?"

"Just a few minutes."

"Did you get up and take a look around by any chance."

"Nah, I hecka stayed close to your booty. Didn't know what to expect. But I think we're actually in the game or something."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because there's a phatty castle just over there," Jack said, pointing behind Piotr.

Sure enough, when Piotr turned around and saw a castle. Actually, it appeared to Piotr to be an entire walled city. The stone walls rose over 12 feet in the air. Some hundred yards or so behind the walls rose the walls of the castle. It looked like your typical medieval castle, although there were some interesting steel structures in the wall that belied its origin.

"I wonder what city this is," Piotr mused. "Do you remember the names of any of the cities from the game?"

"Just a few. I guess we should get on over there and figure out what's going on."

"Yeah, that'd probably be the most logical thing to do." Piotr responded. "Hey, what happened to Corg?"

Jack shrugged, "I dunno. Hasn't shown his mug around these parts. I don't know if he even made it here."

"That'd hecka suck. Leaving us in heaven-knows-where while he kicks it with his wife."

Jack giggled. "Nah, knowing him, he's probably already hangin' with the royalty here. If he wasn't married, he'd probably already be hittin' on the women here."

Both laughed heartily. They got up and started for the city in front of them. It was already dusk, so they picked up the pace a little bit, fearing what might creep out and attack them. After a few minutes, they made it to the gate. Luckily, it was still open.

They tried to enter as inconspicuously as possible, and were rather successful. Most people weren't on the streets anymore. Actually, the city seemed rather deserted, save a few guards near the city gate. Quickly spotting an inn, Jack pointed it out to Piotr and the two made their way over to it.

"I guess we should go check where we are," Jack said.

Piotr nodded.

Entering the inn, there was a comely, purple-haired woman sitting behind the front desk.

"Dude," Piotr whispered. "I think you're right. I think we're in the game."

"Man, I miss that zippy little tune that they always play every time we enter these places," Jack whispered with a big grin.

Piotr laughed out loud.

"Good evening, would you like a good night's rest, here?" the woman asked curtly.

"Uh, no thanks," Jack said, trying not to use any slang. "We just wanted to know what city we're in. You see, we're…uh…well…travelers from afar or something like that."

"Oh, of course," the woman beamed. "This is the city of Landen."

Piotr and Jack looked at each other and nodded.

"Oh, okay. Thanks. Just another question, who's the ruler of this place?"

"That would be Queen Sari," the woman commented. "Today is a very special day. You see, her nephew, Prince Sean, is going to marry Lady Kara. There's going to be a lot of rejoicing at the castle tonight."

Piotr and Jack looked at each other and felt faint.

"Uhh…thanks," Piotr mumbled. They then left the inn.

"Man, this hecka sucks," Piotr said as they left the place. "What are we going to do? We're trapped in the middle of a game. Our best friend is nowhere to be seen. This place is probably crawling with monsters. I don't think we're even prepared in the least to beat…"

Jack stayed silent for a moment. He pondered for a few moments all that remembered about the game and where things were.

"Oh, I got it," he finally. "There's a fortuneteller here. She can probably set us in the right direction."

Piotr shrugged.

"I believe she's over there," Jack said, pointing to the opposite side of the city.

They followed the narrow, cobblestone road over to the house where Jack remembered the fortuneteller being. Sure enough, as they walked in the door, there was an older lady sitting at the table with what appeared to be crystal ball of sorts on it.

"Come in! Come in!" the lady said graciously. "I've been expecting you."

"This is freaking me out," Piotr whispered.

"Yeah, I know," Jack agreed. "But we gotta do things the way they're done in the games."

The two sat down at the table and waited for the woman to speak. The woman stayed silent for a few moments. Finally, she cleared her throat and held out her hand.

"Uh dawg," Jack said. "Do you have any mesetas?"

Piotr began searching his armor for anything that might resemble a pocket. He finally found what appeared to be a small bag and took it out. There were some strange-looking coins inside. He gave a few of them to the lady.

"Very good. You're already getting the hang of things here."

"And where is here?" Piotr asked.

"You know the answer to that one. You're on the _Alis III_ in the kingdom of Landen. You're on a quest to figure out why you're here and where your companion is."

"So, do you know?" Jack asked, feeling a bit relieved.

"The answer to your question lies with Queen Sari. However, you must visit her tonight. Otherwise, it may be too late."

"But—" Piotr started.

Jack quickly got up and made it for the door. "Thanks for the tip. C'mon dawg, I gotta plan."

They left the fortuneteller's house and started heading towards the gate.

"How are we going to make it inside the castle. I bet the place'll be crawling with guards and the gate'll probably be shut."

"Dude, did you hecka already forget the beginning of the first quest?"

Piotr paused and thought for a few moments. "You mean—"

"Heck yeah!" Jack said laughing. "Hecka gonna reach that baby underground."

They headed for the alchemist's shop. Entering the shop, he noticed that there two people at the counter. As they walked around and observed the place, Jack saw what appeared to be a stairway behind the counter going downstairs.

"Good evening," one of the men said. "My I interest you in some Monomate?"

"Uh, no thanks," Jack said. "However, we do need to take that stairway there. Please let us through."

"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that," the man said.

Piotr and Jack looked at each other and lifted an eyebrow.

"I don't think you heard me right," Jack said, putting his hands on the counter. "We need to get inside the castle."

"Please leave now. Otherwise I'll have to call the guard."

Jack looked at Piotr and shook his head. He then jumped over the counter and slammed both of his feet into the man at the counter. The man flew against the wall and slumped over. He quickly ducked and swung his leg in an arc, sweeping the other man out from under his feet. He then got up and swung his leg into a vertical arc and brought it down on the guy's head, knocking him out.

Jack started laughing. "Man! I hecka did them dirty. Never knew I had it in me."

"Dude, you hecka beat them down."

Jack was still laughing, "Well, ya' gotta take advantage of your surroundings, dawg. C'mon, we need to get to the castle as quick as possible."

The two ran down the stairs and into the castle dungeon.

The wedding procession had already begun. Prince Sean was standing in front of the throne at the end of the red carpet. He was dressed in his best black armor and in a white cape, a symbol of royalty. His green hair contrasted nicely with his clothing. He smiled lightly as he saw Lady Kara enter the large hall.

Kara was dressed in a white wedding gown. Her neon green hair was left free. Laya and Sari had joked with her earlier that this was the first time that they had ever seen her dressed in something other than her purple battle armor. They quipped that she should get married more often; she was more beautiful as a bride than as a fighter. She had simply rolled her eyes at them. Now she made her way slowly across the hall to where Sean was standing.

Sari and Laya stood to the right of Sean. Sari was in her white armor and cape; she rarely went anywhere without her armor on. She even was wearing her trusty daggers. Laya laughed at her when she discovered that Sari's idea of getting ready for a wedding was simply doing something with her hair that wasn't putting it in a ponytail. This was true; Sari's hair was all done up and full of flowers, quite a departure from the norm.

Laya had also changed out of the usual clothes that she had used in battle. She wore a reddish-orange dress that matched the color of the jewel on her forehead. She left her hair in its usual braid, but complimented it with a small crown of pink flowers.

The other members of the party were present. Miu had changed out of her red, one-piece "bathing suit" (as the others had jokingly called it) and slipped into a magenta dress that matched her hair color. Wren couldn't be convinced to get out of his usual protector, nor to leave his weapons back behind. Nevertheless, he and Mieu stood to the left of the carpet, to be on Kara's side when she arrived.

As Kara advanced towards Sean, the air filled with the traditional melodies of an Orakian wedding. Queen Sari and Laya were both shedding a few tears. Sari was thinking about how Sean's parents weren't alive to see this special moment; they had been killed several years back when their home, Azure, was blown up. Laya was shedding tears, as she was a bit sad that Sean hadn't chosen her hand in marriage. She understood that Sean and Kara had a lot more in common, but she had liked him just the same. You don't save the world and destroy the Ultimate Evil with someone without developing some feelings for him or her.

Kara arrived at the front of the hall, where she greeted the groom with a light kiss on the cheek.

"I, Sean," Sean began to say aloud. "Take Kara to be my wife, in the presence of the Queen, my friends, and all of these witnesses, to love and to cherish, to take care of always, in sickness and in health, until my very last breath."

Kara repeated the same thing. The two then kissed passionately, sealing the marriage covenant between them. Then, as was custom, the two began to walk to down the carpet to the salon where the reception would be, followed by the Queen, and then the special guests, and then rest of the people.

Suddenly, a commotion was heard in the hallway outside the throne room. The procession stopped to see what was going on. Sari calmly slid her hands to where her daggers were. With a loud crash, the doors of the throne room burst open.

Two strange men stood in the doorway. Sari observed both of them closely. One of them was rather tall and lightly built. He had short blond hair, fair skin, large eyes, and wore a black garb that looked like something a spy would wear. The other was just a bit shorter than the first, although was noticeably stronger. He wore a protector similar to the one Wren always used, although it painted beige and brown, instead of black. He had fair skin and brown hair that was cut quite short. He was also brandishing weapons: a pair of retractable, steel batons. Both looked like they had been laughing a lot.

Soon, the guards who had witnessed the ceremony were pointing their spears at the intruders.

The blond one spoke first, "Um…yeah! So, we're here to talk to Queen Sari. It's kind of urgent that we speak to her as fast as possible."

One of the guards snapped, "How dare you invade this wedding with such demands. You will spend the night in the dungeon!"

The other intruder spoke, "Please just let us through. We wouldn't want to have to beat you down."

"Insolent—" the guard motioned for the other guards to arrest them.

"Stand your ground," Sari finally said to the guards. They immediately stopped. Sari walked over to the throne and sat down, bidding the intruders to come forward. As they walked towards the throne, Laya walked over to the throne and stood next to Sari.

"Dude," Jack whispered. "This is really awkward."

"Boy, I'll say," whispered Piotr, too.

The two noticed that everyone present was looking at them strangely. Even the bride and groom looked at them with more curiosity than anger. They made their way slowly through the crowd, trying not to think about all of the whispering in the crowd, nor the fact that it was common knowledge that two of the guests, Wren and Mieu, whom they had immediately recognized, were probably armed to the teeth. Finally, they made their way to the back of the hall where Sari sat.

Pausing, Jack and Piotr looked at each other, nodded, and then knelt and bowed to Sari. "God Save the Queen," they said.

"Please stand, the two of you," Sari said, her voice noticeably tinged with curiosity. "Who are you and where are you from?"

"I am Jack of…of…I am Jack, a traveler from afar."

"I am Piotr. I…uh…come from the same land as Jack."

"And what land would that be? Mystoke? Draconia? Hazatak? Please, tell me."

Jack and Piotr looked nervously at each other. "Well, we are not from the _Alis III_," Jack finally said.

Piotr whispered something into Jack's ear. Jack nodded.

"Well, I guess I should hecka tell you. We hecka ain't from this world. We hecka were travelin' the universe lookin' for a phatty place to visit and we thought, 'Man, it'd hecka be phatty to visit the _Alis III_ and see the Mieu and Wren-stuffs.'"

The crowd erupted with commentary. Jack and Piotr saw Sari and and Laya conferring with each other. They looked over to Mieu and Wren, who with looks of confusion on their faces, were whispering to each other.

Sari finally spoke up, "Your manner of speaking is quite alien to this place. I have never heard some of the words you use in any of my travels. I am impressed of your claims that you come from another world, and yet know the name of both this ship and some of its inhabitants. Let me ask you now: Why are you here? Why do you seek audience with me at this moment?"

"Well, we were hecka chattin' with the fortuneteller," Jack started.

"Yeah, she told us that you'd know how to help us. We're looking for our companion. He was traveling the universe with us and got lost. We were told that you could help us."

Sari looked at them strangely. "And what could I do? I don't even know who you are, let alone your friend. How could I—"She was interrupted by Laya, who whispered in her ear.

"Hey, do you think this has something to do with what the fortuneteller told us? Do you think this supposed new planet is where their friend is?"

"Could be," Sari whispered. "That would make sense. What do you suggest?"

"If it's destiny, we should go with them to the planet. We could take the ship that goes in between Dahlia and Elysium. What say you?"

Sari nodded. She then spoke aloud, "You two have come here, have intruded upon the marriage of these two special people, and now have the nerve to ask for my help. I should have you thrown into the dungeon. But I will give you a chance. If you can hold your own against me in combat, I will consider your request." She glanced quickly at Laya and winked. Laya rolled her eyes.

Sari stood up and removed her cape and took her daggers out of their sheaths. She walked over to the two and asked, "Which one of you two will it be?"

Piotr and Jack looked at each other and breathed deeply. Piotr nodded and rose, batons in hand. He motioned for Jack to step back and give him some space. "Please, your majesty, I'm still not all that great at this kind of stuff. Have mercy on me," he said in a low voice.

Sari smirked and held her daggers up. "On guard!" she yelled and lunged at Piotr.

She began to strike at Piotr, deliberately holding back on the force of her strikes. Piotr parried her blows, awkwardly at first, and then more assuredly. Soon, every strike of hers was met with a quick block. Piotr, logically deducing that this was more of a test than anything else, refrained from trying to hit her himself. He just stayed on the defense. After a while, Sari did a leg sweep, bringing Piotr down to the ground.

Stunned, Piotr stuttered, "Uh yeah…I…uh…concede to your majesty."

Sari smiled, got up, and helped Piotr up. She declared, "Thank you for your exhibition of skills. We would all be honored if the two of you could accompany us to the wedding reception. Afterward, we shall discuss what shall be done about your companion."

As everyone started to leave the throne room, Sari went up to Laya and whispered, "I'll keep him. You can take the other."

Laya rolled her eyes and giggled.


	3. Chapter 3

The trip from Landen to Elysium lasted nearly a full day. After a few hours of council, it was decided that Sari and Laya would lead the team to the newly-discovered planet. They would be accompanied by Mieu and Wren, in addition to Jack and Piotr. Sean had expressed interest in going, to the point that Kara had to physically restrain him from leaving with the others.

"Hey! Hey!" she chided him. "The only action you'll be getting is with me. Now let's go."

Even Wren chuckled at Kara's comments. Sean and Kara had decided to spend their honeymoon in Aquatica and left shortly after the council ended.

Jack and Piotr were quite marveled at the sights they saw as they walked across Landen to the Landen-Elysium passageway. Sari pointed out some of the various landmarks and such to them. They saw the kingdom of Satera, which had been previously destroyed in the war against Lune. It was now being rebuilt and was supposedly going to be given to Sean and Kara to rule over. They visited Yaata and decided to take a boat south to the passageway. The passed by the Sunken Temple, which Jack and Piotr thought was pretty cool.

They even met up with a few stray monsters, including a few lizards, a chirper here and there, and even a moos. The last one had the courage to actually attack the party. Sari let Jack and Piotr take it on; it was a short fight. Jack surprised it with a jumping spin-kick and knocked it to the ground. Piotr finished it off with two blows to the brainstem. Both commented that the experience was pretty exhilarating.

Shortly before arriving at the passageway, Wren received communications from the pilots at Aerone. They confirmed the _Alis III's_ approach to a new planet's orbit. The planet was in a rather odd orbit; it was in the middle of two different stars. Despite the greater distance of one of the stars, Wren confirmed that the planet would essentially pass through periods in which there was no night, only day and dusk. Nevertheless, the pilots confirmed that it was a green planet and confirmed that it could support life. Sari requested that the _Alis III _and the _Neo Palm_, its sister ship, enter into its orbit but not actually land until the scouting mission was accomplished.

The trip through passageway was especially fascinating to Piotr, who was a computer programmer by trade. He spent most of the time asking Wren about the machines and their functions. Wren explained that most of computers and circuitry existed as links between the climate control center in Aridia dome and the Elysium dome. He also noted to Piotr that the structure was still a ship, so basically any part that wasn't affected by the climate controls retained its mechanical appearance. Piotr found it all to be pretty logical, but fascinating nonetheless.

Jack, on the other hand, wasted no time in getting to know Laya. He spent the journey asking her about battles and adventures and stuff. He talked only a little about himself; like Piotr, he made sure not to say anything about video games and _Phantasy Star III_. On Earth, Jack had simply managed a gas station. On _Alis III_, Jack was an interstellar traveler looking for his friend and a bit of adventure at the same time. They had been asked before leaving Landen how they arrived on the _Alis III_, which was a question that had feared being ask. They decided that, if anyone asked that, they'd defer the question to Corg, who had "more knowledge about the space-time travel process."

Laya found Jack to be a rather interesting fellow. His quiet and reserved way around her reminded her of Sean, although he obviously had more of a sense of humor than Sean ever did. He also enjoyed himself quite a bit in battle, laughing more than both her and Laya thought healthy for a person killing a monster.

"I don't know, Sari," Laya commented as they neared the passageway exit. "Both him and Piotr seem to treat these battles with a strange sense of whimsy. You'd never think that they were fighting for their lives here."

"I agree," Sari said. "They treat this almost as if it were a game. However, I confess to being very impressed at their fighting skills. I've never seen someone go after a monster unarmed like Jack does. Both of them claim to have no fighting experience prior to arriving here, but they both hold their own quite well in combat."

"And you? What have you noticed Piotr? Find out anything interesting?"

"He's nice and courteous, without a doubt. He's pretty quiet, at least around me. He talks and everything, but he stutters and holds back a lot of stuff whenever I ask him about where he's from. He's pretty knowledgeable about technical things and seems to know the ship fairly well for someone who just arrived yesterday."

"I find that particularly interesting," Mieu said, catching up to them to join in the conversation. "I used one of my bio-sensors to measure their heart rate while I asked them a couple of questions. And it seems they're telling the truth. They're not from here. They've never been on the ship before. They're familiar with a number of towns…practically all of them and even know a bit about our personal history. The strangest thing was when Piotr asked Wren and I how you reacted to Ayn choosing to marry Thea and not you, and you could've sworn that his reaction to our response was one of guilt."

Laya sighed. "You know, there was time when I could've said that I saw and heard everything. Oh how wrong I was."

The other two giggled.

When they finally exited the passageway, the four humans agreed that a short break was needed. It was already dusk in Elysium, but Laya and Sari didn't like the idea of sleeping in the dark in the open, so they'd try to make it to Aerone before dawn. As usual, Wren would stand guard, as he never actually got tired and also had night vision programmed into his system. The three girls, two humans and a female cyborg, sat down near the mouth of the cave, while the Jack and Piotr went exploring.

"Don't go too far," Sari yelled. "We wouldn't want our guests to be eaten on the first day."

"Oh that would never do," Piotr said sarcastically. "But you could protect us, couldn't you?"

Sari blushed. "From over here?"

"You could always just throw your knives from where you're sitting."

"But what if I hit you?"

"Then that would just suck."

Sari frowned. _Darn it, I still don't understand these expressions that they're using_.

Mieu, sensing her companions lack of comprehension, whispered, "He means that it'd be unpleasant if that happened."

Sari blushed. "Go with them Mieu," she said quickly.

Mieu got up and followed the two men. They didn't walk very far, but enough to see what was around them. Elysium was a lot like Landen. It was a green and temperate place. It was practically one large plain. There were no visible bodies of water and the mountain ridges were pretty low; they more like hills than mountains.

"So, what do think of this place?" Piotr asked Jack.

"It's pretty cool. I liked the passageway a lot, although I did feel a bit weak when I saw that most of the ground was transparent."

"Yeah, that was pretty freaky. What's worse was that there were holes in the panels, just like the—" He paused and looked at Mieu, who was tilting her head and looking curiously at him. "Right."

"But this place is pretty nice. Hey Mieu, this place green all year?"

Mieu nodded. "Yes. The climate control is set up so there's never really any seasons. It stays the same for practically the whole year."

"So what do people do when they bored of the same thing?" Piotr inquired.

"To tell the truth, it wasn't until Rhys set off after the Princess Maia that contact was made once again between the various domes of the ship. Until then, most people had forgotten they existed. Therefore, most people weren't really aware that there was a cold world like Frigidia or a desert world like Aridia. From what I know about human nature, a person can't desire or long for something that they don't know exists."

"Yeah, that makes sense. You can't miss a person you never met," Piotr said, nodding his head. "You and Wren are pretty cool. You're logicians of the highest caliber," Piotr grinned, giving the thumbs up.

Seeing this, Jack struck his forehead with his hand and started chuckling. "Hey Mieu, can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me another one," she responded brightly.

Piotr started laughing.

"Yeah, well," said Jack sheepishly. "Anyways, you're not allowed to lie or anything, are you?"

"Affirmative," was the response.

"Okay, so tell me. Is Sari hecka diggin' the Piotr already?"

All three of them stopped in their tracks. Mieu looked a bit confused and started shifting her eyes back and forth. Piotr lifted up his hand as if to backhand his friend. After a few moments, Mieu giggled a little.

"I can't lie, but I don't have to respond when I don't wish to," she said.

"Aww…you know you wanna," Jack insisted.

"No, you hecka don't," Piotr rejoined.

"I think you should ask her yourself," Mieu said. "Come on, I think it's better if we stick close to the others."

They headed back to the camp, where Laya and Sari were almost asleep.

They arrived at Aerone at nearly midnight. Most of the city was still asleep, although the inn/tavern seemed to have a few lively customers still awake. As the four humans of the party were all exhausted, they headed straight to the inn to sleep. Sari figured it'd be better to leave in the morning. In the dungeon beneath the castle of Aerone there was a small spaceship which traditionally had taken people to and from the satellite of Dahlia, Kara's home.

As they entered the inn, Wren paused. "Receiving a transmission from the pilots," he affirmed. A small microphone appeared in his head set.

"Preliminary surveys of unidentified planet confirm signs of plant life, sources of running water, and movement, possibly of local fauna. Secondary surveys conclude the presence of diverse vegetation, including jungle, temperate forest, and extensive swampland. Furthermore, surveys of the geomorphology of the planet revealed signs of intelligent life in the middle of a large basin, including what appeared to be stone buildings, maybe a castle."

Everyone in the party looked rather excited. Maybe it was this that they that were looking for. Jack and Piotr wondered and hoped that Corg had been found by the inhabitants of the castle, whereas Sari and Laya were excited at the idea of a planet for the ships to finally land on.

"Wren," Sari barked. "Confirm the coordinates and exact location of the basin and this supposed castle."

"Roger," the cyborg responded. "Please confirm the coordinates of the castle and the basin."

"We're passing them to you right now," came the voice through the microphone.

"Received. Roger. Over and out," Wren responded.

"Maybe this won't be the needle in the haystack we all thought it would be," Laya said cheerfully.

Quietly, Jack muttered, "That's okay. It'd be worth the extra time to spend with you."

Laya looked at him as if she had understood what he said, blushed, and went upstairs with Sari to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack and Piotr hadn't slept all that much that night. They spent a lot of time musing on the situation in which they found themselves, trying to find some relation between where they were and their own world. They commented on the journey they had made from Landen to Aerone, from the landscapes to the passageway to their interactions with people who, until the day before, were only characters in a video game. They tried to make sense of it, but agreed that only having Corg around would help with that. After all, it was him who got them into this mess, or so they said.

What surprised them the most was how much they found themselves thinking about the female members of their party. That's probably what Piotr missed most about Corg, his ability to listen and offer some logical, but emotionally-sound advice about the situation.

"Hey Jack," Piotr began to ask, staring into the blackness of room. "What do you think of Sari?"

"She's cool. She's pretty schwing," said Jack. Chuckling to himself, he added, "I'd still like to see her bust out the phatty slashage with those daggers. Why, what's up?"

Piotr lay silent for a few moments. "I don't know. There's something about her—well—she's pretty attractive."

"I'll give you that," said Jack, realizing that Piotr was being serious. "You thinkin' of tryin' something?"

"How do you do that with a queen? Not only any queen, but one who could hecka bust out the knifage? And not just that, she's a game character. How does that work out?"

"True dat. I couldn't tell you what to do. You 'fraid to talk to her?"

"I'm nervous about talking to any attractive woman I might have feelings for…you know, never know what to say. Never know how many cards to put down at once."

"Well, at least wit her, you don't have to worry about some other guy getting' to her first. There's only me and Wren doesn't count. If this is all a game, you could always see this as practice for reality."

"That'd be kinda dirty, wouldn't it? Hecka leading a girl along just for practice."

"If she's just a video game, than it wouldn't matter, huh? Some other player will just come along and play her and decide her destiny and everything you did to her won't mean nuttin'."

"Yeah, you kind of have a point. But for now, how do you mack to a game?"

"Hmm…'tis a good question," Jack said, switching back to his humorous mode.

A few hours later Wren was in their room waking them up and requesting them to get ready for the trip. The others had already awakened and we're already putting on their battle clothes. Jack and Piotr hurried and put on their armor and garb and went downstairs to meet up with the others. Mieu and Wren had gone to the alchemist shop to procure a number of vials of Monomate and anti-venom before leaving. Upon confirming their inventory, including weapons and armor, they set out for the castle.

The castle was old and run down. There hadn't been a monarchy there for a number of centuries. Other than a throne room and few other bedrooms and servants quarters, it was a pretty meager structure. The notable aspect of Aerone is that the pilots of Aerone navigated the _Alis III_ from a special cockpit beneath the dungeon. In the dungeon itself was the space ship that they would to arrive at this new planet.

Descending the staircase into the dungeon, they soon came across the jet itself.

"Dude!" Jack exclaimed upon seeing the ages old ship. "Hecka looks like the X-Men Blackbird! Hecka tight!"

"Man! You're hecka right," said Piotr, impressed with the design of the ship. "Hey Wren, does this baby have stealth on it?"

While Sari and Laya were furrowing their brows to figure out what these two strangers had meant, Wren simply responded, "Affirmative. The craft does have stealth capability, in addition to limited offensive weapons."

"Like—" Piotr began.

"Neutron cannons," Wren said, cutting him off.

Piotr had no need to speak. His smile said everything.

They boarded the ship and found their seats. Wren would pilot the ship and Mieu would serve as his co-pilot. The other four found seats in the cabin. Jack quickly sat next to Laya, trying to charm her with his innocent smiles. At first Piotr said one row behind Sari, but a glare from Jack and a clearing of the throat quickly put Piotr in the seat next to hers.

The ship took off and soon they were leaving Elysium, then _Alis III_ from beneath the dome, and finally were entering space. As soon as they were on course, Sari called a meeting so they could figure out what they were going to do.

"Wren, how many hours until we reach our destination?" she asked commandingly.

"Four hours, your majesty," came the monotone response.

"Try to land as near to the castle as you can. The quicker we can establish contact with intelligent life, the quicker we can evaluate the possibility of our landing there, not to mention find some possible clues as to the whereabouts of this Corg guy. Jack, Piotr, do you have idea what Corg might be up to when we find him?"

"In a situation like this, I can't imagine what. He could be the most popular person in the kingdom, knowing how he was back home," Piotr said, reminiscing about all the times Corg and him would walk down the street and people would randomly say "Hi" to him.

"Well," Sari said seriously, obviously not knowing what Piotr was referring to. "Let's hope that's the case. It'll make him so much easier to find. Remember guys, we're on a mission of peace, but we leave the ship with our arms in hand. We can't afford any casualties on this mission."

Everyone nodded. After discussing a few more items, Wren and Mieu returned to the cockpit. When the door closed, Jack quickly nudged Piotr. Piotr shook his head, but Jack nudged more insistently.

"Uhh…S-Sari?" Piotr stammered.

"Yes, Piotr?" she said pleasantly.

"Your reputation with them knives is pretty well known. Could you give me a few pointers on improving my reactions with these?" replied Piotr, holding his twin steel batons.

"Sure!" was her bright reply. "Let's see what we can do you." As she led Piotr to a more open space in the cabin, she quickly looked back and Laya and Jack and winked.

An hour or two later, Sari and Piotr were already sparring with their actual weapons. Basically, Sari would strike at Piotr, who'd block with one baton and simultaneously strike at an exposed spot with the other. They practiced with overhead strikes, underhand strikes, high blows, slashes in wide arcs, diagonal slashes, and other possible movements.

"Wow, you're a quicker learner," praised Sari, as she slashed and awaited Piotr's reaction. "Good reflexes. Remember, the block and counter must be as close to each other as possible. Good!"

"You know where I learned this?" Piotr, feeling less inhibited as he heard the praise.

"Please, tell me," Sari requested, switching her dagger from the underhand position to a straight-stabbing position.

"Corg and I practiced together. We used to strike pillows and beat up broken electronics. Corg was always a fan of the fighting arts, so we always joked around with this stuff."

"Okay, let's stop for a moment," huffed Sari, trying to catch her breath. A moment later, she observed, "This Corg seems to be a pretty good guy, the way you and Jack talk about him."

Piotr smiled and laughed. "He's a good man, full of moderation. He's pretty wise and knows a lot of obscure stuff." Piotr paused to reminisce a little bit. "I'd hate it if anything happened to him. It was his idea for us to take this journey."

Sari put her arm around Piotr. "Don't worry, we'll all be trading stories and enjoying each other's company in no time."

A bit shaken at Sari's demonstration of affection, Piotr said, "Yeah…well…I guess…you're right." He breathed a few times. "He'll be thrilled to meet you all."

Wren's voice came on the intercom. "Everyone please get in their seats. We'll be entering the planet's atmosphere and will probably encounter some turbulence. Twenty-five minutes to reach our destination.

"Let's go," Sari said, grabbing Piotr by the arm.

The four sat down in their seats. Piotr looked over and saw Jack talking in a low tone with Laya. Laya smiled at almost everything he said. In a few moments, the ship began to tremble and the temperature began to rise sharply. Looking over at Jack and Laya, he noticed the two holding hands. Paralyzed momentarily, he began to slowly inch his hand over to Sari's. Sari, however, was too steps ahead of him and quickly grabbed it before he could say that he made the first move.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wow, this reminds me of the old times," Laya practically sang as she stepped off the ship.

The space ship had landed on the east side of castle where there was ample open space. The others got out of the ship and observed the area around them with a strange sense of awe. Wren had brought some binoculars from the ship, so they were able to see with some detail, what they were to expect. To the south they saw what must've been some sort of swamp. To the north was mostly forest. However, there was a waterfall on the side of the cliff. A cliff formed a natural wall to the east, although they could see that the cliff ended in a waterfall on the south end, near the swamp. Across the river that flowed from the waterfall was a continuation of the swamp, in addition to some shallow slopes and highlands.

Aerone had informed them beforehand that the castle was found in a valley at the bottom of a large basin. Wren had calculated that the valley was about fifty miles in diameter. Although faint, they could see the walls of the basin, at least to the south. These stone cliff walls rose some 500 feet in elevation, dwarfing the smaller cliffs, which probably didn't pass forty or fifty feet.

Looking through the binoculars, they scanned the area quickly for signs of life. Wren saw some crab-like crustaceans living near the swamp, not to mention some rather large crocodilian animals. Birds and insects were clearly visible, although nothing that really called much attention. Piotr and Jack thought they saw some large snakes in the bushes and Sari jumped when she claimed to have seen a large rodent skittering through the trees to the east.

Laya found that to be rather funny. "Aren't you the hardened, bloodthirsty warrior woman? How can you jump at the sight of a rat?"

Sari stopped to catch her breath. "You'd do the same thing if you were me, so I don't want to here," she snapped.

"So," Piotr said. "This is the first time you've seen the sun…or both of them…isn't it, Sari?"

She looked pensively at Piotr and responded, "You know, you're right. The sun on the _Alis III_ was only an illusion—part of the climate control. This is the first time I've actually seen the sun…or walked on a real planet for that matter."

"Kind of reminds me of _The Matrix_," whispered Jack to Piotr.

Piotr mused on that thought for a moment and joked, "You just blew my mind, dawg."

"So how is it? You like what you see?" Jack inquired of Sari.

"Oh it's a beautiful…the cliffs and forests and the waterfalls…it's almost like a dream to me. Laya, Wren, Mieu, was Palma anything like this?"

The three didn't say anything for a few moments. Finally, Laya said, "I think it was. Although this place is so much more…what's the word—"

"Natural?" Jack asked.

"Yeah! That's it" Laya exclaimed. "Hey, how did you know—"

"What? About Palma's high tech cit—" Jack paused and saw that the attention of Laya, Wren, Sari, and Mieu were all on him. "Well…yeah…I just assumed that…if you have an entire ship carrying a section of planet, you're probably pretty high tech…yeah."

After a few moments of giving Jack confused looks, Sari took command and said, "Okay people. Let's find the entrance to the castle. We've got work to do." She hesitated and than said in a very low voice, "Remember, have your weapons ready but try not to be too conspicuous."

Save for the chirping of the birds, the castle seemed to be almost silent. There was nothing stirring, nor any sound to be heard on the other side of the castle wall. No guard was to be seen on the castle wall, nor any curious peasant to be seen sneaking around one of the corners.

"Wouldn't you expect like…I don't know…people to come out and see what the commotion was?" Piotr whispered to Sari.

"You got a point," Sari whispered back. "Maybe they got scared by the sudden appearance of the jet."

"Well, the structure of this castle," Mieu commented, "does indicate that they're probably not as advanced as the Orakians and Layans are."

"Probably thought it was a phatty monster like Rodan or something," Jack quipped.

"What is a Rodan?" Laya asked Jack.

"A giant ptero—a flying monster that Corg liked," Piotr finished.

"Corg actually liked monsters?" marveled Laya.

"Heck yeah," Jack said, looking to Piotr for a confirming nod.

"Shhh!" Sari said quietly, finger in front of her mouth. She motioned with her head that they were about to near the corner. Looking at Wren, she motioned him to step back a few spaces and check the northeast guard tower for signs of life. She and the others stuck to the side of the wall.

Wren stepped out a few yards and scanned the area above. He shook his head. Sari gestured for them to round the corner, sticking as close to the wall as they could. As they turned the corner, Sari clenched her fists as a way of telling everyone to be on their guard. They moved quietly towards what appeared to be the main gate of the castle. They heard nothing coming from inside the castle, not even a peep.

Reaching the gate, they discovered that it was open. The moment they looked inside, there hearts jumped inside theirs chests. The castle was apparently empty. None of the dilapidated houses or shops was occupied. The place was in a complete state of decay. The dirt roads had almost been completely taken over by weeds. There was absolutely no sign of life.

"Uhhh…yeah. So what do we do now?" Piotr asked.

"We investigate every nook and cranny of this place for signs of life or at least something to help us figure out what happened here," whispered Sari in a still-commanding voice.

Just then, a loud rustling was heard in the bushes to the north. Startled, the seven of them jumped around to see what it was. Nothing.

"Could be a trap," Mieu whispered to Sari. Sari nodded and motioned for everyone to move in the direction of the noise.

The seven crept slowly towards the bushes, each one with their hands on their weapons. When they were about halfway between the gate and the bushes, they heard the sound of rocks falling from the above the gate.

Spinning around to see what the noise was, they saw what appeared to be some human shapes on top of the wall near the gate. Before they could react, there was a loud hissing sound that came out of the bushes.

Laya let out a cry of surprise. Jack and Piotr turned to see her body completely enveloped in a gooey white substance. Before they could run to her, they heard several more hissing sounds. They felt something strange strike them and pin them to the ground; they too were covered with the white goo. Mieu and Sari shrieked as well as their bodies were suddenly covered, too. Even Wren was caught in the substance.

"Don't worry, Wren and I can easily free ourselves," Mieu said hopefully to Sari, who seemed more disgusted than frightened.

Before she could start hacking at the strange white substance, which was quickly hardening and becoming more thread-like, two loud noises that sounded like branches breaking came from the castle wall. Mieu and Wren felt some ram into them and then squeeze like a big bear hug.

As the two cyborgs toppled to the ground, Sari and Laya screamed: both Mieu and Wren were covered with thick, woody vines.

In a fit of howls and growls, four humanoid creatures leapt out of the bushes and circled Sari and the others. From what they could see, the creatures looked like normal people, but but were inordinately hairy and feral. Piotr and Jack immediately thought of those werewolves from the movies, but in mid-transformation. They were dressed cloaks and tunics and carried daggers and bows. Wren, who was facing the gate, saw the other two descend and run towards them.

With voices made of grunts, growls, and what sounded like garbled words, the strange animal men discussed what to do with their captives, or so Sari and the others figured. One of them walked up to Laya and began caressing her hair and face. Laya struggled and contorted her body, trying to free herself, but the web-like substance held firm.

"Hey dawg," Jack called to the curious animal man. "You hecka better not touch the woman. Otherwise, it'll be grounds for a murder."

The creature looked at Jack and grunted. One of the others walked up to Jack, pulled out a leather sling from a pouch it carried, and smote Jack across the fact with it. The other creatures howled with laughter. After a few more moments of conversation between the, the creatures seemed to decide on a plan action. Five of them picked up Sari, Laya, and Mieu, and began carry them off. The other creature, who was carried a knife, began to walk towards Piotr and Jack.

"Oh, this is going to suck," Jack said.

"Yeah, this can't be good," Piotr agreed.

_CRASH!_ The gate slammed shut. Startled, the other five animal men dropped the three women and turned around to see what happened, as did the other.

Standing in front of a gate was another humanoid figure, dressed in a magician's red cloak, its hood covering his face. The figure stood still, its outstretched hands carrying a number of metal chains.

For a few seconds, everyone was motionless. Finally, the still air was rent by a howl from the creature closest to Jack, who made a mad dash towards the figure, its knife in the air. With a quick jerk of the arm, the figure wrapped them around his arm. The creature fell upon him, trying to hack him to pieces with a number of well-placed slashes. The figure, standing in the same place, deflected all of the blows with his protected arm. He then struck the beast in the face with his chain-covered hand. It reeled back, bleeding profusely through the nose. The figure stepped forward and punched him in the stomach, causing it to double forward. Finally, he smote in the creature in the head with a downward fist strike, like a large hammer, and the beast collapsed. Then, with another jerk of the arm, the figure loosened the chains around its arm.

The figure pulled off its hood, revealing a young, scruffy man with long, dirty blond hair and an unkempt beard. With a deep voice, he mocked, "Sorry dawg, hecka 'gainst the law to let you run away with the women." Looking at Piotr and Jack, he smiled and yelled, "Sup dawgs!"

Simultaneously, Jack and Piotr shouted, "Duuuuuuuuude! It's hecka the Corg."

"In the flesh," he bellowed. Then, with a more serious voice, he said, "Hold up a sec, lemme take out the trash." Having said that, he switched hands with one of the chains so that there was a chain in each hand.

Corg ran at the other five, swinging the chains madly over his head and around his body. Two of the beasts reached into their tunics and produced pieces of parchment. As they held the parchment up and began mumbling, Corg thrust both of the chains out, which ripped through the parchment and struck his enemies. The impact said them flying to the ground. He swung the chain again, bringing it across the faces of two more of the creatures. Swinging the other one, the chain wrapped around the last beast's leg. Corg yanked the chain, pulling the creature's leg out from under it and sending it crashing to the ground.

One of the creatures scrambled to its feet and headed towards Corg with knife in hand. Corg sidestepped it and quickly wrapped the chain around its arm and neck. The other creature who had held the parchment also got up and started swinging at cork with its staff. Corg once again swung the other chain at it, wrapping it around the creature's neck. With a few more swings, Corg managed to wrap the chain around it in such a way that its arms were pinned to its body.

Quickly, Corg tied the two chains together and yanked hard, bringing the other two feral creatures to the ground. Out of his cloak he pulled out a silver wand and touched one of the chains with it. There was a blue flash of light followed by a number of small blue bolts of electricity coming out of the wand. A split second later, a shower of sparks erupted from the parts of the chain that wrapped around the three beastly creatures. Their bodies convulsed violently for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground as smoldering heaps of flesh.

Corg walked over to the three girls who were lying almost motionless on the ground. He knelt down and looked each of them closely.

"Wow, it is true honor," he said in amazement.

Sari looked at him, smiled, and then try to struggle free, to no avail. "Thank you for saving us."

"The pleasure is all mine, your majesty," Corg said politely, eliciting snickers from Piotr and Jack.

"How did you—" Sari began, incredulous.

"The Corg knows many things," he said with a big grin.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Piotr said, trying not to laugh.

Reaching into his cloak, Corg produced what appeared to be a red-bladed dagger. With a few cuts and slices, he cut away most of the webbing that had covered Sari and Laya's body. He also was able to free Mieu from the vines of the _Entangle_ spell which had been cast on her. Corg knew well what was going on around him. Both the _Web_ and _Entangle _spells were both very familiar to him.

"Thank you!" Mieu said as she cut away the rest of the webbing from her body with her claws. To Corg she sounded like one of those perpetually-happy _anime_ characters.

"You're welcome, Mieu. You really are as pretty as you lo—sound," Corg said.

"Uh, Corg?" Jack called out.

"Yeah, dawg?"

"Can you, like, free us, too?"

"Hold that thought—"

Corg saw the last two beast men get up and start running to the southwest. Corg simply lifted up the _wand of lighting_ that he was holding and pointed it at them. With a flick of the wrist, a huge blue spark shot out of the tip of the wand. The spark expanded and enveloped the two beast men in a lattice-like field of lightning. After a few seconds, the lightning disappeared and both the beast men lay dead on the ground.

"That oughtta learn'em," Corg commented.


	6. Chapter 6

Corg sat on the edge of the well and waited as Mieu pulled a bucket of water out and poured it over him. He had commented that due to his being in hiding for the last two weeks, he had not had much opportunity for personal hygiene. Seeing it as an opportunity for her to learn more about human caretaking, Mieu offered to bathe him. The others stood round about and questioned him.

"So dawg, how is it that you've been here for two weeks whereas we arrived on the _Alis III_ only a few days ago?" Piotr asked.

"I'm not sure on all the particulars. I think the passage from Earth to this dimension goes beyond the limits of space-time. I think when we crossed those barriers, I somehow ended up in this place—" He paused as Mieu doused him again with water.

"Hey Mieu," Jack said, giggling. "See what you can about that scruffy face of his."

"Will do," Mieu beamed. She extended a single blade on one of the claws she wore and started moving it skillfully across Corg's face, slicing off pieces of his facial hair.

"Anyways," Corg started again, trying to stay still. "I think it interesting that, in spite of the difference of arrival times and destinations in this dimension, we still were able to come into contact with each other."

"Yeah, that is pretty darn weird," Jack said more seriously.

"What's up with that?" Piotr asked.

"Makes me wonder if it wasn't intentional, if we weren't brought here on purpose," Corg mused.

Laya and Sari looked at each other confused. The whole situation had completely bewildered them. The arrival of Piotr and Jack in Landen, their arrival on a planet inhabited by a person who not only was coincidentally a friend of the two, but knew an alarming amount of their own lives, both made them wonder in awe and shutter in fear at the same time.

"So…Corg," Laya said. "What do you know about this place?"

Corg waited a moment for Mieu to finish slicing off his mustache. "Our present location is Duke Barrik's castle. As you've probably figured out now, we're in the middle of a large basin."

"Are there any ways out of here?" Sari asked authoritatively.

"Yup. There are a number of caves to be found along the sides of cliffs, many of which lead to other lands. I'll show you something in a moment. Wait a sec—"

The others turned away as Mieu helped Corg remove his wait tunic and change into some cleaner clothes that Wren had brought from the ship.

"Come with me," Corg bekconed.

"Wow, this friend of yours is pretty cute, now," Laya whispered to Jack.

"Yeah, and smells a lot better, too," Jack chuckled. "But hands off, he's married."

The party followed Corg down the main road of the kingdom to an area separated from the other shops and houses by a tall gate. As they entered, they saw that it was cemetery with decent-sized chapel in the corner. Corg led them alongside the outside of the chapel. In one of its corners, there was a square stone with a plaque on it.

_"May Ka Save All of Us"_ read the plaque.

Corg knelt down and, with a little effort, lifted up the stone, revealing a narrow stairway.

"Wow, how did you about this?" Laya asked.

Corg paused as if to look for a good response. "Dumb luck, I guess. Found it by accident while hiding from the beast men hunting parties."

"And you've spent the last two weeks hiding out here?" Sari asked, surprised.

They all started descending the stairs. It was a narrow passage made of stone, with some wooden planks scattered about for extra support.

"Basically. I'd come up every now and then to forage for food and to look for equipment. I've come to know this town pretty well."

"My bio-sensors show that you are heavily undernourished," Mieu commented.

"Yeah, I'm not all that good at hunting. There was a stockpile of healing potions down here so I subsisted mainly on those."

Having said that, the party reached the bottom of the stairs, which opened into a large stone chamber. There were pieces of armor, empty bottles, and some weapons scattered about.

"Wow, what's that awful smell?" Laya exclaimed.

"Corg," Jack said holding his nose. "Have you hecka been doing your business down here?"

"Heck nah. What happened was that I got discovered one day by a beast man. Had to kill the little sucker. I kept the body in here so that it wouldn't be discovered by the others—" Corg paused and remembered how the beast man had descended the stairs was about to run right back up when it saw him. He had had to tackle the creature and beat its head against the edge of the stairs to kill it. Corg shuttered.

As they looked around, they all noticed a large picture carved into the wall. Everyone walked up to it to see what exactly it was.

"Oh," Corg said. "That's a map I made of this land. What do you think?"

"I think it's pretty impressive for someone who's been in hiding for two weeks," Sari said sarcastically.

"Boy I'll say," was all that Jack could muster as a response.

"Corg, please tell us the truth," Laya said sincerely. "Are you from here? Are Jack and Piotr from here, too?"

"Nah," Corg mumbled.

"Have you been here before?" Sari continued.

"Jack and Piotr haven't, to my knowledge," Corg responded.

Mieu spoke up,"He's telling the truth, Sari. My bio-sensors report no abnormal heart activity in his responses."

Sari threw her hands up into the air in desperation. "Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on here?"

"Your highness," Corg muttered. "I really don't know myself. The best I can do is give you some half-baked theory." He paused for a few moments while everybody looked at him. Looking thoughtfully at them, Corg went on, "Let's discuss our own plans for the future for the time being."

Wren, who had not spoken a word since their descent into the hidden chamber, agreed. "I think the answers as to their origins can wait. We need to figure what our status is in this new land."

"Fine," Sari shrugged. "Go on, then."

"Okay, this is the situation. We're here in the middle of a valley surrounded by some high cliffs. We're all aware of that—that's pretty obvious."

Everyone nodded.

Corg continued. "What's also obvious is that this castle was once inhabited by Duke Barrik and his people. However, they were apparently wiped out by the beast men, as you all can see."

"Do you have any records of this?" Laya asked.

"Only a few parchments that weren't carried away or burnt when the place was sacked. There were also a few carvings in stone in some of the other passageways and dungeons beneath the castle." Corg then pointed at a large "X" in the middle of the map. "Anyways, we're here, right smack dab in the middle of the valley. The beast men had a camp here to the north, near the banks of the river. I think they've since consolidated their forces with the rest of their tribes, which are concentrated in a series of caves in the northwest corner of the valley."

"Are the beast men the only other humanoid inhabitants of this land?" Mieu inquired.

"Fortunately, no. In one of these caves—" Corg paused and pointed to the northwest corner of the map. "—There's a passage to a great swamp. The passage itself is inhabited by the troglodytes, a race of reptilian men. The passage leads to a large swamp, which is where the Lizard Men live."

"Dang dawg," Jack began. "You really know your stuff."

"I know," Piotr said curiously. "You're hecka bustin' out the knowledge."

"That's not the half of it," Corg chuckled. "Here in the northwest there's another waterfall and a bridge connecting the two sides. If you go into the northeastern corner, you'll find another cave, which is a passageway leading to the Azcan jungle."

"These Azcans you mention," Laya said. "Are they humans."

"Yes they are," Corg affirmed. "Unfortunately, they're hostile." He went back to explaining the map. Now, from where you landed, you might've seen what appeared to be a large swamp to the south."

Everyone nodded.

"That's only part of a larger swamp, separated by another river. This swamp is probably the most dangerous area in the valley, as its inhabited by dragons, hydras, and alligators. However, there is a point of interest there because there's a cave down there which leads into the city of the Dark Elves."

"Those hostile, too?" Sari asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yes."

"Is there anything here that _doesn't_ want to kill us?" Sari replied sarcastically.

"Thankfully, there is. Here on the western end of the valley, before the beast men caves, is low plateau. The plateau itself is heated continually by magma, making it almost impossible to traverse. However, there's a cave that leads to the land of the Oltecs, a peaceful race of traders. And that, my friends, is where we find ourselves."

Everyone stayed silent for a few moments. They had obviously found a wonderful place to live and stay, however establishing themselves was obviously going to be no easy task. They all knew it. While their curiosity over Corg's seemingly vast knowledge of their location was great, the importance of their own survival easily overpowered that.

Finally, Sari spoke up. "I suggest we settle down here in the city for now. We're all tired, except for Mieu and Wren, and we have a lot to discuss. I don't like the idea of eradicating any race that lived here before us, so let's set out in two days to explore land and try to establish some sort of treaty with the beast men." She looked at Corg, who just shrugged. "Mieu! Wren! Laya! Come with me and help unload the ship. I think our three new friends have some catching up to do."

The four got up and went upstairs and to the ship.

Corg walked over to the stairway and sat down on one of the steps. The other two followed in suit. Corg took a deep breath.

"Wow, things have been phatty crazy since I arrived here," he said calmly.

"Dude, heck yeah," Jack said, nodding his head. "Hecka phatty had to live in hiding and with no one to talk to."

"The loneliness I can kinda handle. Having had two parents that both worked, I'm used to being alone. But it was pretty suck, especially without Cristina here. I've been worrying myself sick about that. I barely know what's going on, where she is, what's become of us there. Only my attempts to survive have been able to keep my mind occupied."

"Now that we're alone, do you mind explaining to us why we're in a video game?" Piotr asked, both worried and nervous.

"You know, I first thought we were in a video game when I arrived here," Corg began.

"Uh, where is here?" Piotr asked.

"Oh, this place? This is the world from the game _Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun_. I used to play this game when I was a teenager. Fun game."

Piotr nodded his head. "Well, that explains why you know so much. But tell me, do you think this is actually a video game?"

"As I saying, I thought it was. I mean, I was like, 'Cool. I'm in a game that I knew and had busted out as a kid. I can get along quite well.' Almost died when fighting my first round of beast men. I had forgotten that in the game, you have four people to your party and not just one."

"Nice work, ya' stupid," Jack quipped.

"Screw you, dawg," Corg chuckled. "So, I thought this was a game, until I had to phatty murder the beast man that had discovered this place. If this was a game, you know, a game world, they would follow the exact rules of the game. So, if I killed the sorry sucker, he'd just disappear immediately. I mean, that's how things were in the game. But he didn't. He just hecka sat here moldering and stinkin' up the joint."

"Yeah, it's still stinkin' pretty bad," Jack quipped again.

"Man, hecka worse than some the ones you lay," Piotr said.

They all laughed.

"So as I sat here, watching it decay, I began to think that this wasn't the game. Or was it? I mean, if it were the actual game, we wouldn't actually have any real agency. We'd simply do and say whatever the game told us to."

The other two nodded in agreement.

"I figured that we weren't in the game. Than I wondered if this was a video game world not unlike the old cartoon _Captain N_. Any of you watch that?"

"I think I did," Jack said, furrowing his brow.

"Nah, don't remember it," Piotr said.

"Yeah, used to watch that baby every Saturday. But that place also functioned a lot like the games. Although you could jump from one game to another, it still followed the general rules of disappearing bad guys and guys that inexplicably leave money and items around, even though there was no physically way they could actually carry the item."

"You know, Corg, you gotta point. Kind like those bad guys that'd leave behind entire treasure chests and suits of armor after beating them, even though they were birds or something," Jack said in a state of epiphany.

"Exactly. That led me to create the Peter Pan-hypothesis."

Piotr lifted an eyebrow. "Intriguing, please explain."

"Well, basically, the worlds we know from video games really do exist, but in some strange parallel universe. Basically, whoever the architect of it is made the gateway to these worlds a psychic one. Therefore, only people who…well…believed could get here. My theory is that there are an infinite number of these worlds and basically the Japanese people, who have some of the strangest imaginations ever, were able to access this place and designed their games based on the things they saw and learned here." Corg shrugged. "So we live in a real place that has been the basis for a lot of games and movies and gosh-knows-what-else what. But like I said, it's my theory."

"Well, that sounds, kind of logical…I guess," Piotr shrugged. "Better than anything I can come up with. I guess the question would be how we could get out of here."

"Dude," Jack started to lament. "Kinda makes me feel bad for all those people and soldiers I beat down back in Landen. Piotr and I thought that this was all a game."

"I understand," said Corg in consolation, patting Jack on the back. "We gotta be careful here. There are no hit points or magic points or energy bars or lives or anything. Every fight is real and deadly."

"Wow, that's pretty crazy," Jack said. "Hey, did you happen to get any strange abilities?"

"Well, I can whirl a chain around my body with the best of'em. I don't know how that one came about. But then, the characters learned to fly when they went to Neverland, so who knows. And you guys?"

"I can boot with the likes of Donnie and Hwang," Jack said.

"I've developed some abnormal dexterity with these here clubs," Piotr said.

"Well, whoever brought us knew that we couldn't survive on our own. Probably programmed or quickened some fighting abilities into us to help us out a little. I imagine that these abilities are some reflection of a subconscious decision on our parts. In any case, let's do the following, let's help them get established here and see what becomes of us."

"Whatever you say, dawg," Jack said.

Piotr said nothing. He just sat on the step and looked thoughtfully at the clubs in his hands.


	7. Chapter 7

There was something ominous about the campfire which burned in front of them. The idea of a campfire at first seemed almost superfluous, as night obviously didn't exist on this planet. The black smoke produced by the fire gave the party the strange impression that they were sending a beacon to all of the hostile inhabitants of the valley that they were there. Nonetheless, they needed to eat, and the boar they had slaughtered wasn't going to cook itself.

They had left the castle several hours earlier. It took them nearly three hours to reach the bridge to the southwest. Crossing it was pretty easy; in spite of the welcoming party they received in the form a hill giant and his pet grizzly bear. Sadly, the hill giant wouldn't pay much attention to reason and pleas for passage and Piotr and Jack decided to slay the hulking beast. The large bear had wanted to make a meal out of Mieu, although it learned through bloody experience that its claws were no match for Nei and Planar claws. After a few more hours of trekking to the northwest, the party came in sight of the western cliff wall and decided to stop and rest.

As usual, Wren guarded the perimeter of the campsite while the others waited for their meal to cook. An entire boar would take a while to roast, giving them much needed time to rest their feet and enjoy each other's company.

Mieu's previous insistence on taking care of Corg had established something of a bond between the two, so that whenever he wasn't making nostalgic conversation with Jack and Piotr, he was with her. The two sought to understand each other—Corg was ultimately intrigued on how a cyborg could learn to love and comprehend human feeling, whereas Mieu's taking care of Corg had reminded of her of the same care she had given to Sean years ago on the _Alis III_.

"So, what was it like, cutting my hair?" Corg asked her curiously.

Mieu smiled and said calmly, "I once watched Queen Maia bathe and groom her little son Ayn and something inside of me, I don't know what, touched me deeply. I saw the same happen when Queen Thea did the same to little Sean. I guess Orakio, when he built me, put these things in my emotional programming, these yearnings for motherhood. It was something of a pleasure to bathe you and cut your hair."

"Yeah, it was weird. The only people who had done something like were my parents and my wife," Corg paused for a few moments, his heart filling with worry.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"Sick. I have no idea how my trip to this world has affected the boundaries of space and time. For all I know I could be here for a few weeks and return several months later. Maybe I'll never return. Maybe I've been declared dead or missing. I don't know."

"Is that all?"

"I miss her affection, too. You get so used to your wife's love that after several weeks of being without it, you realize how important it is."

Mieu looked him in the eyes for a few moments and then ruffled his dirty blond hair with her hand. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

Corg smiled and rested his head on her shoulder.

An hour later, the five human members of the party were feasting on the roast boar that had finished cooking.

"Wow, this is just like my mom's porkchops back in the States," Piotr said.

"Yeah, too bad we don't have any A-1 or barbeque sauce," Corg lamented.

"That'd be pretty phatty," Jack agreed.

Sari and Laya stared at the three men, trying to understand both their customs and the references to their home world that was completely unknown to the two girls. To Sari and Laya, Corg, Jack, and Piotr were good men, although their behavior was an enigma to them. They seemed to take the greatest joy in nostalgia and up until their arrival on the planet, almost found killing monsters to be fun. However, the last few battles seemed to be a bit more somber as if they realized that more was at stake.

Laya finally asked Jack, "Before we arrived on this planet, you and Piotr seemed to think it was the funniest thing to slay a monster. Now you seem so serious and cautious. Why?"

Jack looked away for a few moments. Looking back at her, he ventured, "Sometimes we start out all light-hearted and thinking everything is a game. Then things start gettin' serious and you don't wanna lose it all, so you gotsta' grow up a little bit."

"Did you think that this was all a game? Your travels? Your adventures?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And me?"

Jack stayed silent.

Laya tilted her head and squinted her eyes as she looked into his. She had a very difficult time understanding his position, especially since most of her life had consisted of war and killing, either in the war against Orakio or the war against Rulakir and the Dark Force. There had been very little time for frivolousness in her life. Jack seemingly had enjoyed this to degrees far beyond what she had experienced.

"And now?" she asked. "How do you feel now?"

"Talking to Corg really helped sort things out. Corg is an interesting guy. The little sucker lives in a world of his own and spends a lot of time retreating into his own imagination. But at the same time, he's got a lot of great practical points of view about life. He's a pretty understanding guy."

"Glad to know we got such a special person on our team. So how do you feel about me?"

Jack blushed. "I never imagined I'd ever meet someone that I'd have to fight for, literally. But here we are. Kinda changes how you feel about a girl, ya' know? It's one thing when its all kissing and going out and stuff. It's another thing when you're having to lay down the spack just to keep her alive."

Laya giggled. "I can take care of myself, you know. I did participate in a battle against the Ultimate Evil, remember?"

"Yeah, but a man has his pride."

Laya shook her head and laid it on Jack's shoulder.

A few hours later, the party was once again making their way through forest. They decided to stay along the side of the cliff, so as to avoid being ambushed on all sides from the trees. The next few hours were pretty eventful; their only encounter was with a few flying serpents, which were quickly shot down by Wren. Corg swore he saw some variety of large predatory cat in woods, but one never showed itself to the party.

After a few hours of traipsing through the woods, they decided to make camp again and rest for several hours. Mieu and Wren had carried a few tent-like structures for them to sleep in. After setting them up, Corg and the guys decided it was best for them to sleep in one, and the girls in the other. Sari had wanted to stay closer to Piotr, hoping to break through his shell; he had said very little to her after talking to Corg on the day of their arrival on the planet. When he announced that he'd be staying with Corg and Jack, she just shrugged and joined Laya.

Jack, Corg, and Piotr lay down in the tent and started commenting on their journeys. They hadn't had much opportunity for intimate conversation, now that they were being accompanied by four others.

"It's kind of weird, being surrounded by people that we once controlled in a video game," Jack said.

"I know, especially when they're pretty schwing," Corg said, chuckling.

"Yeah, but you're married, my friend," Piotr said.

"'Tis true. I guess that's why I'm sticking closer to Mieu. She's a cyborg and more of a motherly one. I mean, who could possibly cheat on his wife with a cyborg?" he said.

Jack and Piotr laughed.

Piotr shot back with, "Well, wasn't there that cyborg from _Eve of Destruction_ and _Cherry 20_—"

"Shut up!" ejaculated Corg.

They all laughed.

Corg started up again. "So, what's this I've been hearing about you an' Sari, my good man?"

Piotr hesitated and mustered up the words, "Uhh…yeah."

"Kinda makes a difference that she's now a real woman instead of a video game character, doesn't it?" Corg asked philosophically.

"Yeah, now I don't have the slightest idea what to say. When you know it's a game, you can just screw around 'cause it's not important. When it's real life, their impressions mean a lot more."

"Just go for it. She's obviously into you," Corg said.

"Easier said than done, my fine-feathered friend," Piotr rejoined. "You've always had the skills to talk to girls. That doesn't come so easily with me."

"Bosh! Flimshaw! You obviously got it in you. It's just untapped natural resources."

Jack laughed out loud with that one. "I need to beat you for that one."

"I dunno. It's kind of weird, isn't it? Can't get me an real girl so I settle for one from a video game."

"Nonsense," Corg objected. "She's as real as you and I. Difference is that she lives in another dimension and could take out most of her Earth competition in a knife fight. Now that's a whole lotta woman!"

The three men laughed so hard that Sari and Laya could hear them in the other tent. A few minutes later they heard someone wrapping on the side of the tent.

"And who would it be?" Jack said, trying to imitate a stately English gentleman.

"It's me, Sari."

Corg poked Piotr in the ribs.

"Hey, stop that!" Piotr said.

Corg sat up and started motioning with his head for Piotr to leave the tent. Piotr rolled his eyes in response. Corg pursed his lips and pointed to the door. Piotr threw his hands up in the air, sat up, and crawled to the doorway. When he looked back at Corg, Corg simply widened his eyes and pointed againt to the door.

Piotr got out of the tent and saw Sari standing there looking at him. She was dressed in a white camisole and a white silken robe over it. Her brown hair was no longer in a ponytail but fell freely below her shoulders. She held a dagger in her hand, but wore an inviting smile.

"Uh..yeah…hi," Piotr stuttered.

"Come, let's go for a walk," she said.

"Uh…okay…sure."

Sari grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the two tents. They found a large granite block near the cliff wall and sat down next to each other on it. The tents were about twenty yards way and Wren was still in view.

Piotr stared at the camp for a few moments, oblivious to the fact that Sari was staring at him. Finally, Sari let out a huge sigh and grabbed Piotr's head and turned it towards her.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked, trying to hide her consternation. "Why is it so hard to talk to me?"

"Want me to b-be…uh…honest?"

"Yeah, that'd be a good start."

"At the risk of committing the same mistakes I've committed with other girls I liked—"

Sari grinned. "Ha! I knew it!"

Piotr blushed.

Sari pinched his cheek and laughed. "Go on."

"I'm not really secure. I honestly don't know how to communicate in a girl in any meaningful way. I get all…nervous and stuff."

"That's okay. For a long time I was a pretty bitter, bloodthirsty young woman once. I don't think my flirting skills were all that great back then."

"Kinda changed when you met that Ayn guy, right?"

Sari turned her head and stared into the sky. "Yeah, it did. The things love and infatuation does to us. Anyways, all of these things come with time. You know, you and others have told practically nothing about your actually lives since we've met you. You could always start with that."

"I thought women don't like men who always talk about themselves."

She lightly wrapped in the back of the head and winked. "I got that one from Jack," she giggled. "In any case, I'm the one suggesting, aren't I?"

"Oh alright," Piotr relented. "Let me begin by telling you about my history with Corg…"

It was a number of hours later when they started on their journey again. Piotr stuck a little closer to Sari this time and did his best to talk to her about the variations of some of the animals they saw on his world. Jack and Laya walked together. Corg, on the other hand, seemed to jump back and forth between Mieu, Jack and Piotr.

"He's a restless one, that Corg," Sari noted.

"Yeah, he'll do that. You just learn to run with it."

After a couple of hours of just cliff wall and forest, a low plateau came into view. It stretched a few miles to the east.

"This is the land of fire," Corg observed. "It's inhabited by dragons and salamanders. There are actually a number of caves located here, including one full of undead monsters and another one I already mentioned that's actually a tradeway with another civilization."

As they neared the plateau, they saw a stairway cut into the stone, leading to the top of the plateau.

"Anyone want to go up?" Corg joked.

The others looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Okay, then, we'll have to go around this plateau. The Beastmen caves aren't far from the other side."

The next few hours were spent walking alongside the fiery plateau. It was certainly hotter than the forest around them. Ominous bellows and hisses filled the air around cliff wall. Cries and bellows which were far more threatening than any of the bears or wolves heard in the woods. Wren noted at several intervals that there were reptilian figures walking along the age the cliff and looking down on the party. Occasionally, one of the said figures would apparently trip, sending rocks sliding down the wall of the cliff and scaring the party.

After almost three hours, the low, fiery plateau gave rise to a higher cliff and the party was sure that they had passed the fiery valley. They decided to rest for a few hours before rounding the cliff and heading north. While they rested, the members of the party took turns scaling a few of the trees near the cliff to try to get a glimpse of the fiery valley, but could only catch glimpses of what Corg said was a dragon.

The general feeling of awe and curiosity was partially replaced by one of anxiety as the seven explorers rounded the plateau. They knew that they were only a number of miles away from the heart of the Beastman civilization. It was there that they'd meet an entire race of creaturs who, had it not been for Corg's intervention, would've probably had carried them away to their deaths.

"So, Sari," Corg began to ask as they hugged the western slope of the plateau. "Do you think we'll be able to establish some sort of treaty with them? Or do you think the worst will happen?"

"Please don't remind me," she pleaded. "I don't like the idea of putting myself into conflict with a…uh…people that already lays claim to a land."

"Yeah, we should've just blown up that bridge back there and set a few security bots at key points," Piotr said. "That way we could just stay near the castle without getting blown up."

"But we'd never be fully safe," Laya said. "I guess after my experience with war, it's easier to just come to some agreement and avoid conflict altogether."

"Yeah, but these guys don't really seem to be the understanding, diplomatic type," Piotr said.

"Worst comes to worst, we'll show them the various, intricate, diplomatic implications of having one's body lacerated by Nei weapons," Corg quipped, remember a quotation from a favorite writer of his.

"Heck yeah!" Jack said, laughing.

Sari scowled at him.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Just tryin' to lighten up the mood."

An hour later, the plateau began to curve to the west, forming a large, clearing spreading several miles in every direction. The trees were rather sparse and in the distance it was possible to see the corner of the valley to the northwest. It was probably only about ten miles away.

"Let's rest here," Sari suggested. "Mieu, Wren, we'll need you to be extra careful on your watch. We don't know what may happen so close to the caves. Keep a very tight perimeter."

Mieu and Wren nodded.

Corg stepped forward and said, "Guys, in our world we have a certain tradition. We're about to do something truly epic and truly dangerous. Can we say a prayer to our God for his blessing before continuing?"

Piotr and Jacked nodded in agreement. Laya and Sari looked at each other for a few moments and then nodded.

"Piotr told me how important this is to the three of you," Sari remarked as she knelt down beside him. "Anyways, we may need a little bit of divine intervention tomo—later."

They all bowed their heads while Piotr uttered a heartfelt prayer.

"Okay," Corg declared. "We're all in this together, for better or worse. Best case scenario, we make a treaty with them and the inhabitants of _Alis III_ will have a new home. Worst case scena—"

Piotr quieted him with a discreet nod.

Corg paused for a moment. "Do me a favor. If anything happens to me, try to bring Christy over here and take good care of her."

Piotr and Jack looked uncomfortably at each other.

Laya reached out and ruffled Corg's hair. "Don't worry, you'll have Mieu and the rest of us to watch over you."

Corg stroked his chin. "Mieu! Wren!" he called out.

The two cyborgs came over.

"Group hug!" Corg yelled.

And they all hugged. Even Wren was faintly touched by the moment.


	8. Chapter 8

The seven heroes stood outside of the rocky formation where the beastmen caves were located. A number of stairways were carved into the side of the plateau leading to each individual cavern.

Corg knew from playing the game so often that these caves were what linked the valley to the Malpheggi Swamp. He also knew that the place was crawling with beastman warriors, not to mention the legions of beastmen who littered the entire valley. The question was, he thought, _Do they know we're coming or do they we're all already dead?_

The silence was broken by a distinct whistling sound. Everyone looked up and saw a small black object sail through the air. It landed on the ground not too far from where Piotr was standing. It was an arrow.

"Ah crap," Jack muttered.

No sooner than he said, a number of beastmen poured out of the caves, all armed with knives and maces. Their faces vaguely resembled the wolf men of the movies Corg had watched as a kid: vaguely human but unmistakably feral, covered with hair and with fangs protruding from their human-like mouths. They were all wearing a light plate mail and a number of them were wearing red capes.

A loud howling from behind caused the party to spin around. A number of pygmy and big beastmen were emerging from the trees into the clearing. The pygmies were armed with daggers and slings, whereas the big beastmen were armed with clubs. The big beastmen were quite deserving of their name. The beasts were over seven feet tall. Unlike the warriors, they wore no armor, but the skins of tigers and panthers. Their fur, instead of brown, was white and grey. The pygmies looked more like the warriors, although they too wore no armor, just what appeared to be tunics. This band of beastmen covered the rear of the party, should they want to escape.

Soon all became quiet. The beastmen all stood their ground, but remained still.

"They must be waiting for the order to attack," Sari commented. She knew from personal experience what it was like to fight an army of monsters.

"We'll have to split up," Corg commented. "I have an idea."

"Yeah, we should listen to Corg," Jack said. "He knows this ga—I mean—he has good instincts about this stuff." Jack blushed.

"He's right," Piotr added. "The boy knows his forgotten realms."

"Okay, then," Laya said, "What do you suggest if you know so much?"

"Well, there's going to be a leader—"

"Duh," Sari mumbled.

"Hush, woman!" Corg whispered in a threatening tone. "The leader will probably have a female companion, an Azcan woman. She'll look like us, only with more tanned skin."

"Where do get this stuff? Do you just make it up as you go along?" Sari said sarcastically.

Corg ignored her. "Sari, you like personal combat, don't you? You take the woman. Piotr, Jack, you two take the leader. Laya—you take the little ones with the slings and bows. WREN? I think you can take the big ones. Mieu and I will take on the warriors."

"Shh!" Mieu said under her breath. "Something's happening in the caves."

The seven became silent and fastened their eyes on the caves. Two figures appeared at the mouth of the highest of the caves. One was a woman, pretty much as Corg had described. She had jet-black hair, wore what appeared to be some sort of chain mail, but with a green shirt covering it. Her skin was tanned to the point of being golden. She was utterly beautiful, but she wore scowl on her face the let the party know her intentions weren't the most positive. She brandished a strange, rectangular sword in her hand.

The other figure was probably a man, although it was hard to tell. He wore a brown cloak and his face was covered by what appeared to be a leather mask. He raised his hand and yelled, "Take the women alive. The others are all yours!" He then lowered his hand, whispered something to the woman, who started descending the steps toward another cave.

"Please!" Sari called out.

Both the leader and the woman stopped and stared at Sari

"We come in peace! We're here on a mission of peace and diplomacy! We seek an audience with you."

The leader stayed silent for a few moments. His female companion's sneer turned into a cruel smile. She walked up the steps and whispered something in his ear.

"No!" the leader cried aloud. "There will be no diplomacy. You will not take this land from me! Nor will there be any truces and treaties!"

"We are prepared to defend ourselves!" Sari warned. "We have survived the most bitter wars and battles against evils that dwarf your puny tribe by comparison! But we do not want that. We only want to negotiate!"

"Fools! Do you know who I am? I am powered by the great Burrower, the subterranean Old One. I could easily slaughter each and every one of you in ways that you could only imagine. Nonetheless, my people are hungry and miss the taste of human flesh." The leader rose his hands once more. "The priestess demands the woman as a sacrifice. As for the others, feast!"

Jack stepped forward, as did Corg.

"Hey buddy!" Jack yelled. "Either call these sorry suckers back, or we're going to have to administer the killage on you all!"

"Yeah," Corg taunted. "I don't care if you're powered by Godzilla himself! I'll take this here lightning wand, shove it up your crack, and we'll see how you like it!"

The leader tilted his head as he stared at Corg. However, as the priestess started caressing his body, the leader turned around and entered the cave.

For a moment, the beastmen stayed still. In a moment, they were slowly moving closer to the seven.

"Now's our chance!" Sari screamed.

"WREN! Use _Burstroc_ to distract them!" Mieu called out.

Touching a button on a small console that opened on WREN's wrist, a small number of rockets fired from the weapons pack on the back of WREN's armor. The rockets zipped through the air like a volley of bottle rockets. The beastmen all froze and stared in wonder at the sight. In a few moments, the rockets were descending upon the side of the plateau where the caves were. The multiple explosions scattered the warriors in fear, and, in a few cases, killed some of them instantly.

"Avengers Assemble!" Corg yelled, as they all split up.

"What a sucker," Jacob commented to Piotr, as they made their way through the smoke and up the stairway that lead to the chief's cave.

Laya let loose a laser-like arrow from her Nei Bow, which shot across the clearing and found it's target in a pygmy beastman who was trying to creep up on her with a knife. As she pulled back on the string again, she felt something whiz by her ear. She turned her head and saw three more pygmy beastmen advancing on her from the south. As one of them started swinging his sling, she fired again. The arrow shot forth and sliced through the attacker's arm, severing it at the elbow. The other two ducked for cover.

_Thank goodness for Corg and Mieu_, Sari thought as she navigated the various stairways on her way to the woman's cave. The other two were engaging the beastman warriors, which was enough of a diversion for her to make it to her destination unmolested. _Ah, there it is_, she thought as she neared the mouth of the cave.

Entering into the cave, she was ambushed by two warriors who ran at her armed with iron war hammers. Thinking fast, she slid under the legs of one the warriors, narrowly avoiding getting her head crushed by the blow of the other. She quickly jumped to her feet as the two turned to face her.

"Sorry guys," she said jovially. "But we'll have to cut this keep this short and sweet.

Sari hurled her two Laconian daggers at the beastmen. The daggers sank deep into both of their throats. Gasping for air, the two warriors fell to their knees and desperately tried to pull the knives out. One of them was successful, and a dark stream of blood sprayed out of the wound and stained the walls of the cavern. Soon, both were motionless. Sari walked over to the two dead bodies and reclaimed her daggers.

"You brown-haired witch!" cackled a voice from behind.

Sari looked up and saw the golden woman standing in front her, holding her strange sword with both hands.

"I've sacrificed all of your friends to the god of below. He will be glad to be able to swallow the soul of such a brave warrior."

_Friends?_ Sari thought. She then remembered that the castle had once been occupied. "Well, the best sacrifices won't come easy."

The two women lunged full-force at each other.

Mieu cut a swath through the warriors with her Planar and Nei claws. The two claws she was armed with were, to her knowledge, the strongest in existence. The Nei claw was especially strong, as it had been tempered and strengthened by magic, in addition to having belonged to Miun, one of the greatest cyborg fighters she had ever known.

The warriors poured out the caves in great numbers. She would've been overcome had they used better weapons, but their swords and maces were rather weak. She was easily able to slice through the weapons as well as their owners. Pieces of metal and flesh littered the side of the plateau as Mieu hacked her way through them all.

_Dang it_, Corg thought. The only weak point is their head. Corg was armed with a chain whip he had made from the chains of old flails that were forged in the castle. The blade at the tip was made from a red spearhead that he had found hidden in one of the dungeons.

Corg swung and whirled the chain in circles. It passed around over his neck and under his legs at dizzying speeds, creating almost a theoretical force field around him. The beastmen who surrounded were kept at bay by the spinning the whip; they knew that if they got too close, it could mean the end for them.

_I can't keep this up forever_, Corg thought. _Here we go_. He swung the chain in an arc and felt it hit something. He heard the unearthly howling of the beastmen and saw two of them holding their hands over their eyes, blood streaming down their faces. He swung again and saw the blade of the whip cut another one of the warrior's throat. It toppled to the ground and died gasping for air.

The next time Corg swung the whip, the blade buried itself in the armor of another warrior. The blood that streamed down the silvery armor let him know that it had pierced the beastman's hide, but unfortunately, the whip didn't return with a simple yank. The other warriors saw this and charged Corg. Corg, who had studied a little bit of martial arts, quickly said a prayer in his mind, _God help me_. He ducked and evaded the blows as well as he could. He grabbed one of their arms and struck its elbow with his forearm. There was a loud _crack _and the monster wailed in agony. Corg through it aside and struck the nearest beastman in the throat with a one-knuckle punch. It reeled over and once again died as it struggled to breathe. The next beastman ran at him, swinging his sword wildly. Corg caught the creature's hand, grabbed its elbow, and with a twist and a bend, caused his attacker to impale himself with his own sword.

A sudden impact sent Corg flying to the ground. He quickly came to and saw yet another warrior running at him with a large mace. Corg quickly swept the beastman's legs out from under him, knocking it on its back. Corg leapt on the beast's chest and dug his thumb, index, and middle fingers into its temple. It soon stopped struggling.

"Eagle's claw, baby!"

Corg got up, ran to the body where his whip had pierced, pulled it out, and faced the next round of attackers.

WREN fired his Nei Shot into the horde of white-furred beastmen. The bullets left the gun as greenish packets of light and ripped through their targets' flesh with no effort whatsoever. Hundreds of projectiles covered the distance between WREN and the beastmen who were falling upon him. Within seconds, the fusillade magically-tempered bullets practically disintegrated the beastmen's weapons and reduced them to mulch.

WREN made a quick scan of the carnage that was happening. Upon seeing Laya struggling for cover against what were innumerous arrows falling from the sky, WREN quickly followed their trajectory back to a large cluster of trees to the south. Bending over forward in direction of the trees, he fired another round of _Burstroc_. The rockets whizzed through the air.

Laya saw the smoke trails of the rockets head in the direction of the trees. In a few moments, she saw a number of large fireballs erupt in the treetops, followed by a several humanoid figures being violently thrown from their hiding spots by the force of the explosions.

"Thanks WREN!" Laya called out. "I owe you one!"

It didn't take very long for that opportunity to present itself. To the northeast, a horde of beastmen riding on the backs of wolves came into view. These particular monsters were a bit different from their white and brown counterparts. They were nearly nine feet tall and were covered in green fur. Some of them were using oversized slings to hurl rocks, others were armed with abnormally large clubs.

Laya quickly started firing her Nei arrows as fast as she could. WREN gave her a confused look, thinking she was firing at him. He turned around and quickly understood what she meant. Her arrows streaked through the air and started striking targets. The arrows ripped through arms, clubs, and heads. A few hit the wolves, which threw their riders from their backs. WREN quickly joined in the fracas and fired several bursts from his gun in their direction. Between his blasts and Laya's arrows, they were able to quickly mow down most of the beastmen…most.

As the two stopped firing to inspect the damage they had caused, a hulking figure fell upon WREN from the rear, knocking his gun from his hands. WREN stumbled over and turned to face his nemesis: a huge, green-furred beastman armed with a large bone club.

Jack and Piotr calmly made their way to the back of the cave. The cave was simply a narrow chamber that opened into a wider one. While calm on the outside, Jack and Piotr were incredibly nervous on the inside. The walls were covered with various paintings depicting death and torture of various other creatures. Strange symbols, which appeared to be written in blood, also marked the walls of the chamber. It was the kind of stuff Jack and Piotr'd expect in a horror film or in an _Indiana Jones_ film.

As the reached the opening of the large chamber, they saw the chief of the beastmen standing alone near the back wall. He was still wearing his leather mask.

However, this chamber gave Piotr and Jack the willies more than the other. Its high ceiling was decked with the hanging skeletons of people, or at least what appeared to be people. The walls were adorned with the skulls of men and beast alike like some morbid European catacomb. Some of the skulls had elongated snouts and were strangely reptilian-looking.

Piotr calmly pulled out his twin mini-clubs.

"You nervous, dawg?" Jack whispered in his friend's ear.

"Heck yeah!" he responded.

"All right, dawg!" Jack called out to the chief. "This is the end of the road. Either you surrender your sorry crack to the Jack, or you better prepare yourself for phatty spackdown."

"Yes, 'tis true," Piotr agreed. "We'll give you three beatings, each one worse than the last."

"Oh?" came the voice from behind the mask. "So you _are_ one of us."

"What?" Jack called with a high-pitched voice.

"Guys! Guys!" said the chief. "You're not game characters like the rest of these weaklings. You're people!"

"You mean that you're from our world, too?" Piotr inquired.

"The real world? Yes, I am."

"Uh, dawg," Jack said. "This is the real world, too."

"Bull—" the chief said. "This world is nothing but an illusion. These people and creatures are nothing but figments of your overactive imaginations, just as they are mine. This place only exists in your heads."

"Liar!" Piotr yelled. "This isn't some fantasy land where you just wake up when it's all over. Where you die and get to play it all over again! Are you friggin' stupid or something?"

"It's the two of you who are fools! This is all fake! This doesn't exist! There is no death here! There is no right or wrong here! If I wanted to, I could go out and kill any peasant or hero I came across. Actually, been there, done that."

"What is the crazy little booty talking about?" Jack asked Piotr out loud.

"Idiot!" the chief said, "You can't kill what's not alive. You can't do any wrong in a world that only exists in your mind. It's impossible!"

"And so what? How many people have you killed here?" Piotr asked calmly.

"I haven't killed any people. But game characters, dozens and dozens. Probably hundreds. I try to get as creative as I can. Always a different spell or a different weapon. Sometimes a painless _disintegration_ death, sometimes a painful torture death. It's a real rush, guys. Peasants were the best. 'No! Don't kill me! Murder! Murder!'" the leader imitated, making gestures to imitate those who he had killed. "Imagine yourselves as actually part of some interactive game. Come on, the three of us can team up and go from world to world doing this. It beats living in the real world…that cold, unfeeling place where us gamers and nerds and geeks are forced to get together in the darkest corners of the internet for companionship."

"Dude, you're hecka friggin' crazy. This place is real and those people you killed are real people."

"Enough of this," Piotr retorted. "Either you're coming with us and ending this conflict or we'll do things the hard way…aw, screw it! C'mon Jack, let's teach'em a lesson he won't soon forget.

Corg saw two big beastmen and a hill giant come out of the forest in the direction of the caves. "Mieu! Watch out for the—"

It was too late. As she spun around to face the new attackers, one of jumped at her with a flying shoulder smash, knocking her down the slope of the plateau. Mieu quickly got up again, but one of the white-furred monsters fell upon her and lifted her up in a great bear hug.

_Oh no_, thought Corg as he made his way around the stairways to some point above Mieu. _Here we go_. Corg left from his vantage point onto the beastman's back and started strangling the beast with his chain whip. The beast soon released Mieu, who did a back flip to put a little bit more distance in between her and the other two. Corg kept a tight grip on his chain, hoping to kill this one before confronting the other two. The beastman wildly swung his body around, trying to rid itself of its would-be killer. It finally flung its upper body forward, nearly throwing Corg off of it. Thinking quickly, Corg grabbed the beastman's hair to keep from falling and secured its neck with his legs. Corg pulled the beastman's head back by the hair and put the blade of his whip deep into its eye. The beastman howled and screamed and flailed its body about. It soon fell forward and died.

But there was no time for Corg to congratulate himself, for the other two were soon upon him. Once again, Corg was bobbing and weaving to avoid the attacks of the two giants' clubs. Once in a while he tried to take advantage of their missed swings to punch and strike them, but they didn't even feel it.

"Mieu! I could use your help right now." He looked over and saw her entangled in a fight with several beastmen warriors. That look nearly cost Corg his head, as a side swing from the hill giant's club came in his direction. Corg tried to block the blow with his open hands, but the impact sent him flying to side.

_Great! What am I going to do now?_ With only seconds to ponder, he remembered the movies he watched where the kung fu fighting good guys always used some soft style against the bad guys.

"Alright babies, it's time for _tai chi_." Corg got to his feet and started moving his arms around in a smooth, circular manner.

The big beastman and the hill giant charged Corg again. He started side-stepping them and striking them with his forearms and shoulders. The hill giant ran at him and Corg sidestepped, struck him with the back of his palm, and sent him sprawling to the ground. When the big beastman entered the fray again, Corg struck its wrist with his and then stayed on it. The beastman found that it could barely lift its arm without Corg pushing it down. Corg pushed the beast's arm against its chest, bent his knees, and then pushed off and struck it with both of his palms. The force of the blow sent it sprawling to the ground.

By then, the hill giant was back up again and ready to fight. It swung its club at Corg, who caught the blow in middair. As the two struggled for the control of the weapon, Corg thrust his foot into the giant's groin and leapt straight into the air for a spinning backhand. The giant shrieked and released the club. Corg grabbed the club, and letting out a loud war cry, swung the club at the giant's head. The club struck it on the top of its head with dull, but easily audible _crack_. Streams of blood ran down the giant's face as it stood for a few seconds, and then toppled to the ground.

As Corg went to face the last of the big beastmen, he felt a powerful impact in his stomach and the sensation of being lifted off the ground. In a split second, he realized that the big beastman and hit him with its club. He soon felt his body hit something very hard, probably the cliff wall. Corg struggled for a moment to get up, but couldn't. In a moment, everything was black.

WREN found that the huge beastman was a good match for him in unarmed combat. For several minutes they struggled, punching and grappling with each other. Every time WREN beat him to the ground, the beastman simply stood up and came back for more. Every time the beastman through WREN against a tree, WREN simply shook it off and continued.

WREN jumped and grabbed the beastman by the hair. Pulling the beasts head down, he started bludgeoning it with his fists. Soon the beast's face was red with blood, but it kept on fighting. It pushed WREN off of it and followed that up with a running head butt that sent WREN flying to the ground.

As WREN got up, he noticed that couple of small beastmen were huddled around his weapon. Quickly getting an idea, he bent forward again and pressed another button on his wrist console. A small orange ball of light flew out of his weapons pack and hit one of the beastman. The beastman was immediately enveloped in flames and ran away screaming. The other little one was smart enough to flee and leave the gun alone.

This was enough of a distraction that WREN dived forward and kicked out the beastman's feet from under it, causing it to fall forward. WREN quickly got on top of the creature and began to hammer his fists repeatedly into the base of the beastman's skull. After a few punches, the beastman's body began to convulse. However, after several more, the beastman was as dead as a stone.

Sari and the woman fought savagely. The woman was obviously trained in the arts of war, as she swung her sword with deadly efficiency. Fortunately, Sari too knew what she was doing, and was able to parry all of her blows with her twin daggers. They hacked at other with unbridled ferocity. The woman's sword took out a few chinks in Sari's armor, whereas the woman's golden body was coming redder with each small cut.

With a savage swing, the woman swung her sword and struck both Sari's daggers, knocking them out of her hands. She then leapt on top of Sari and knocked her on her back. She put the blade of her obsidian sword to Sari's throat.

"My god will have an excellent banquet tonight. The souls of the bravest and most unwilling are the most delicious to him."

"Why don't you just ask him how delicious it really is when you see him, witch!" Sari kicked her leg up and her foot connected with the back of the woman's head, sending her sprawling forward. She then ripped off her white cape, wrapped it around the woman's neck, and pushed the woman off the side of the staircase. The woman tried to grab the stairway but Sari simply stepped on her hand. After almost a minute of struggling, the woman gave up and stopped moving.

The beastman chief seemed to have learned as much about hand-to-hand fighting as Jack and Piotr had while there. He was able to block and parry almost every blow of Piotr's clubs and dodged most of Jack's kicks. He seemed more powerful than they were, as just a single punch of his would send either of them flying across the room.

While regrouping, Jack gasped, "What are we going to do? The dude just doesn't want to die!"

"Hmm…What if the dude is right? What if it's all in our heads? Can we imagine ourselves to be better than him?"

"That'd definitely help, wouldn't it? Hmm…" Jack stroked his chin and looked over at the chief, who stood waiting for them to make their next move.

"I got it!" Jack said. He leaned over and whispered something into Piotr's ear.

Both of them got on their feet and circled the chief.

"I'm ready when you are, dawg!" Jack called out.

"Be my guest," Piotr said, extending his arm as if to let Jack go first.

"You two know you can't beat me? I have more experience than you. My level is higher than your. What are you going to do?"

"Super Cyber Bionic Knee!" Jack called out. He jumped towards the chief and with all of the forward momentum he could muster, he struck him in the head with his knee. The force of the blow sent the chief flying across the chamber.

Before the chief could get up, Piotr ran over to him and, picking him up by the legs, started swinging him in circles. He finally flung him in Jack's direction, who leapt in the air and struck him with a flying spin kick. The chief hit the ground with a dull thud.

Jack ran over to the chief and threw his arms under his and put him in a full-nelson hold.

"You see, even though this isn't a game, doesn't mean we can't perfect a couple of special moves and combos. Okay, Piotr, let him have it!" Jack screamed.

"Attack of the Killer B's" yelled Piotr. He unleashed a barrage of blows with his clubs, most of them striking the chief in his face, but a few of them in his stomach as well.

The chief screamed and thrust his foot into Piotr's stomach, knocking him down. He threw Jack of his back and went in to strike. Jack grabbed his hand mid-blow and thrust his foot out vertically, hitting the chief in the chin. The impact lifted him on the ground and his fell again on his back.

Piotr and Jack quickly ran to both sides of the chief and picked him by his hands and feet. They swung him back and forth a few times before finally throwing him into the air. Piotr leapt into the air and knocked the chief back down with a flying shoulder smash.

The chief struggled to get back up and looked over at them. "Good work. I see that the two of you are getting stronger. But that's still not enough to beat me. Why don't you stop? Don't you know that I'm a god of this place?"

"Sorry dawg, your subject to death just like the rest of us. We'll give you once last chance. Give up now and get your crazy self out of this world. Otherwise we'll be fully justified with whatever action we're compelled to take," Piotr said, trying to stay calm.

"Fools! Morons! You can't kill me. I can't die! Don't you understand? This place isn't real. It's a game for heaven's sake? When you kill me, I'll just wake up in the real world and I'll just go to another game. It's all game! IT'S ALL A GAME."

"Okay, we'll play your little game, you sorry sucker. Final Round! Fight!" Jack screamed.

Piotr threw his clubs down. Jack pulled out two other stick-like objects from under his black robes and tossed them to Piotr. Piotr held the two small poles like he did his clubs and ran at the chief. Piotr started evading his punches and kicks. When one of the chief's punches came close to Piotr's face, he struck his fist with one of the sticks. Sparks flew from the impact and the chief yelped in pain. Piotr began to strike him repeatedly all over his body with the two sticks. With each blow, sparks and small flames jumped out of the sticks. Piotr struck the chief repeatedly in the stomach, in the ribs and across the face. The air began to smell as if someone was burning.

Finally, after about twenty blows, Piotr stopped. The chief's body was trembling and it was obvious that he was struggling to stay standing.

"What…was that? What did…did…you…you do to me?" the chief stuttered.

Piotr gloated, "Oh, our friend Corg always said that the wands of fire and lightning in this place were more than a match for any enemy in the gam—world. So, we figured, if we mix my fighting style with these here wands, we could do some phatty damage. Your turn, Jack"

"Hwang Jang Lee! This one's for you!" Jack shouted.

Jack ran across the chamber and jumped high into the air. At the height of his jump, he trust his right leg into the chief's head, than the left leg, and then the right again. The chief fell over and did not get up for several seconds.

Jack and Piotr walked over to him and knelt on both sides of his face. Piotr stretched out his hand and removed his mask. Behind it was the face of a young man, probably no older than twenty-one years of age. Streams of blood ran down his face and he was coughing up blood.

"It's okay. You two win. It's…it's all right," the boy said weakly. "We all lose and die while playing these games. It teaches us the movements and techniques that we ne…need to know for fu-fu-future games. It's all right. Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid…of. Tomorrow, I'll…I'll wake up in bed and it'll start o-over again. Maybe for the next…round I'll surround myself w-w-with beautiful girls. Yeah…I'll do that. Maybe a _Leisure Suit Larry _game…or maybe o-one of those _Phantasy Star Online_ games…where I can create my own woman. Yeah…I like that. With wild hair, large breasts, a nice body…and then I'll go there and…"

The boy paused and coughed up some more blood. He breathing was reduced to a low wheezing through his nose. After a few moments, tears started running down his cheeks.

"I'm not coming back, am I?" he asked.

Both Jack and Piotr took a deep breath and shook their heads.

The boy wept for a few moments, and then stopped. He didn't move again.


	9. Chapter 9

Corg drifted awake without the slightest idea of where he was or what was going on. His vision blurry at first, he could only make out the shape of a person sitting next to him. Blinking a few times to see things more clearly, he noticed that it was Mieu who was staring intently at him, holding one his hands in hers.

"Well, well, well. Look who's returned from the depths of Sheol," Mieu said in a rather motherly tone.

"Mieu…I…you…" Corg tried to sit upright, but immediately felt a searing pain his back, one his arms, and what must've been the remnants of a terrible migraine. Corg abandoned the attempt and simply groaned in pain.

"Calm down there, turbo," Mieu said with a slight laugh. "You're still pretty weak. Don't try to force it."

Corg smiled weakly. "So it seems that the three of us managed to rub off on you a little."

"Both Wren and I have language programs that can decipher and assimilate different language patterns, including slang, a lot easier than the others could figure it out." Mieu kept smiling. "The only difference is that Wren's logical systems can't figure out any reason to actually use it. I, on the other hand…"

Corg squeezed Mieu's hand. It was so human-like; in spite her not being one. "You know, Mieu," Corg muttered. "I'm not sure how all of this works, but you've been like a mother to me. I bet you've spent more time by my side than any of the others."

Mieu took her other hand and ruffled Corg's dirty blond hair. "Oh don't worry, the others have been worried sick about you. However, these past four days that you've been out have been pretty momentous days for the others."

"And you? Were you worried?"

"I don't have the capacity for real, true-blue motherhood. But when I'm presented with the opportunity for the next best thing—"

Mieu paused for a moment. Corg slowly lifted his hand and ran it through her bright magenta hair.

Gazing into the invalid's eyes, she continued, "Yes, my son. I was worried about you."

Corg smiled. "Yeah, I should be very grateful that I'm still alive."

Mieu's motherly smile was replaced with the look of someone that was going to give a stern reprimand. "Uh…yeah. What in the name of the great Orakio possessed you to take on two big beastmen _and_ a hill giant unarmed?"

Trying to make light of his daring decision, Corg replied, "I had my trusty chain."

"And they were armed with large clubs made from the femurs of dragons."

"I killed'em, didn't I?" Corg said, trying to defend himself.

"You killed two of them. The other one _spacked_ you so hard that you've been unconscious for the past four days."

Corg started laughing, but stopped soon after his body filled with pain.

"There, there, my little one."

"So, what happened to the last'un?" Corg asked.

"I don't normally get angry, even in battle. However, when I saw the beastman striking you down, I can honestly say that I just lost it."

"Oh yeah? So what was left of him?"

"Well, his body was still whole…well…in two whole pieces."

Corg looked up at the ceiling and with a dreamy smile said, "Wow. No one has ever ripped another living being in half for me before. Thanks, mom. You're the best."

"Duuuuuude!!!" a familiar voice called out. "You sorry lil' sucker! Hecka almost dyin' on us!"

Corg saw Jack and Piotr walk into the room. They weren't wearing their battle clothes, but rather what appeared to be a basic white shirt and a pair of brown trousers. Their faces were full of scrapes and bruises, although most of them had nearly disappeared. _Oh, the wonders of monomate Corg thought_.

"But I didn't," Corg said. "Hecka gotta live by the law, dawg!"

"The law?" Mieu asked puzzled.

"Heck yeah!" Corg said. "Brothers—We live together…"

"…and die together" Jack said. He gave Corg a tap on the side of the head.

"Man! Hecka needta beat." Piotr said.

Mieu simply rolled her eyes. "You three and your strange language patterns."

"Yeah, but wuddiagonnado?" Piotr said.

"Beat!" Mieu beamed. All four of them laughed, although Corg was soon recoiling in pain.

"Hey Mieu," Jack started.

"Yes?"

"Can you give the three of us a few moments? We have some important things to talk about…some…'guy' stuff."

Mieu bent over and kissed Corg on the forehead. "If you need anything, I'll be outside, my son."

"Okay."

Mieu left the room.

"So what's sup, guys? Did you both learn that sorry lil' funk chief of the beastmen?"

Jack looked at Piotr uneasily. "Yeah, that's what we wanted to talk to you about," Piotr said.

"Really? Why?"

"Well," Jack began. "The dude hecka wasn't a beastman."

"Oh yeah? Hecka what was he? Azcan? Troglodyte?"

Piotr and Jack looked at each other again, almost horrified. Piotr spoke. "Dawg, it was a regular person."

"Oh yeah? Dude. So one of the inhabitants of the castle had gone over to the Dark Side? What a funk."

"I don't think you understand," Piotr said. "He was…one of us. He was a gamer."

Sari and Laya entered a few minutes later. The two women warriors looked none the worse for wear. The few cuts and bruises they had sustained had also almost all gone away. Sari seemed to have been wearier than her blonde companion, but she was also a bit older and had experienced a whole lot more fighting than Laya had. There were stitches and other obvious signs of fixing up in their battle armor. Nonetheless, any weariness on their part was quickly replaced by relief and joy at seeing Corg conscious once more.

"Hey there, little hermit guy," Sari said jokingly. Apparently, in spite of the years of killing and fighting that she endured, she had maintained a good sense of humor.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Laya added. "We were worried sick about you. That was pretty courageous, taking on those ogres like that."

"Actually they were—" Corg stopped when he saw Piotr put his finger to his lip. "Thank you. Glad to know that you all adore."

Sari went up to Corg and patted his head. He closed eyes and thought of his wife, Cristy, who was waiting for him in his world. He imagined himself in a similar situation at home, his head in his wife's lap and her mussing up his hair while tears ran down her cheeks. Upon opening his eyes, Corg nearly jumped into a sitting position. The pain was the only thing that stopped him.

Sari was standing next to Piotr, her head resting on his shoulder. Jack stood with his arm around Laya, her hands were on his shoulder.

Sari came back with, "Of course we do, although maybe not as much as this splendid soldier here." She kissed Piotr on the cheek.

When Corg recovered from the shock, he said, "Wow, Mieu wasn't lying when she said that these past four days had been pretty momentous."

The two couples laughed heartily. "Man, you were right, Piotr." Sari said. "Corg _is_ one of the most naïve people in existence. How did you _not_ see this coming?"

"Oh it was easy, I'm also one of the most oblivious people in existence…not to mention one of the most easily distracted."

"Yup, you can say that again, you lil' booty." Jack said in agreement.

"True, although I must add," Laya started. "I've rarely seen anyone as brave as you. Not many people could live in isolation for long and not get killed or go insane."

"What about me, my sweet?" Jack responded in defense.

"Oh, don't worry, my dear." Laya kissed him on the mouth. "It took a lot of courage to do what you and Peter had to do."

"Anyways," Corg interrupted. "That's what I get for being both a dreamer and a husband. As a dreamer, I have my imagination to protect me. As a husband, I have my wife to live for."

Corg looked at Sari, examining her white cloak and battle armour. He looked into her eyes, the eyes of a person who had suffered and fought for most of her life. He knew her story from the game. She was a lonely woman, raised for battle, but one who had discovered family in the most unlikely of places. Her brown hair was still pulled back in a ponytail as always, but she seemed happier than she was when the two met. He looked over at Piotr, who had only grinned like that on a few occasions.

Finally, Corg said, "I suggest the four of you try it." He winked and then closed his eyes and rested.

"Let's let him rest a little," Corg hear Laya say. "The little sucker is still pretty tired. Man, now I'm talking like you three."

Corg heard Jack and Piotr laughing.

He then heard Sari comment, "Corg seems to be a good man. I like him."

"Yeah," Piotr complemented. "You'll never meet such an enigma of a person. A dreamer, a people's person, an eccentric, a lover, a fighter, and a comic all wrapped up into a neat little package."

The door closed.

When Corg woke up again, everybody was in the room. Mieu was once again sitting by Corg's bedside. WREN was standing at the door with his usually perpetually amused expression. Piotr and Sari were sitting next to each other, as were Jack and Laya. Mieu put her hand on Corg's forehead, and then stroked his cheek. Corg smiled at everyone.

"So," he said. "What's the good word of the day?"

"I think the most important news involves our neighbors." WREN said in his serious voice, which almost always bordered on monotone. "The remnants of the beastman tribe came to the castle today."

"Yeah? Did you administer the beatage?" Corg asked. The three girls in the room rolled their eyes.

"Actually, we made a peace treaty with them. They've given us everything on this side of the river, as well as a substantial part of the southern end of the valley on the west side of the river."

"That's good news. Does that mean that everyone from the ship will come down?"

"Not so fast there, turbo," Piotr answered. "Sari said that we should start with the inhabitants of Landen and the remnants of Sean's people. If everyone poured into the basin at once, we'd soon find ourselves in conflict with the other peoples."

Corg shook his head. "Oh yeah, huh. There's still the question of the Lizard Men, the Troglodytes, the Elves, the Azcans, the Oltecs, and the Minotaurs."

Laya and Sari looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "I still don't understand how he found out so much about this place when he spent most of time hiding in dungeons and stuff," Sari mused. "Does he just absorb this stuff out of the air?"

"Minotaurs?" Mieu questioned. "The beastmen confirmed the existence of the other races you mentioned, but not the Minotaurs."

"They live in a number of dungeons hidden in the forest south of the bridge. I don't think any of the other races know about them," Corg added with feigned arrogance. "Oh, and Sari, sorry. Can't tell. Trade secret."

WREN continued, "Certainly there will be quite a bit of exploration of this planet before all of the cities are moved to the surface. Treaties will have to be established with the races mentioned."

"Hopefully we can do it without having to wipe out eighty percent of their population," Laya added.

"Dude, that'd hecka suck," Jack muttered.

"Anyways, Sean and Kara should be down here in about a week," Mieu said. "The _Alis III_ is now orbiting the planet and radio contact is now possible between the ship and Wren and I. That should be enough time for you to get back on your feet."

"But what are we going to do until then?"

"Good ol' Corg," replied Sari. "Always oblivious to the obvious. Laya and I have quite a bit of time to make up for—Laya more than I. But this courtship stuff seems to be pretty…how shall I say…_phatty_? Gotta enjoy while you can."

"Whatever," said Corg, rolling his eyes.

"Careful, Sari. Corg's alone, after all. He doesn't have anyone to court down here."

Corg stared at the two couples, who looked back at him with uncomfortable looks. With a toothy grin, he smiled, "But I have my new mom. Her and I have a lot to catch up on. Now go and smooch around or whatever it is you guys like doing. Scram!"

Giggling, Laya and Sari dragged Jack and Piotr out of the room. WREN's logic programming indicated that it was time for him to leave.

Alone together once again, Corg said to Mieu, "Can you give me a hug?"

"Of course, my son." She reached over and lightly embraced him.

"Now, mom, let me tell you a little story of where I come from…"


	10. Epilogue

When Corg opened his eyes, the dull, stones of the castle were mysteriously gone, replaced with a sky-blue wall with white stars painted on it. Corg shot up in bed like a dart and started looking around. The dresser, the wardrobe, the bed covers—all were those that he had used in his home before his strange journey across the boundaries of reality. He was back at his house.

He looked over and saw that he was not alone in his bed. There, next to him, lay his beloved Christy, her body turned to face his. Without opening her eyes, she stretched forth one her hands and felt his pillow. Not feeling anything there, she moved her hand across the mattress until it met with Corg's back. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Hi my love," she said groggily. "I didn't even here you com'in."

"Yeah," he said, gazing upon her face. "I didn't walk to wake the two of you."

He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and ran his fingers through her hair. He then rubbed her belly lightly.

"Go to sleep, my love," Cristy whispered.

"Okay. I love you, my beautiful wife."

"I love you too."

Corg knew not how, but he had returned on the exact night that he had left the Earth. He lay in bed for a while pondering the things he had been through and the circumstances that brought him back. He wondered if Piotr and Jack would be in their respective homes the next morning. He knew it hadn't been all a dream; his body was still pretty sore. He wondered what would become of his new friends and family. Many things had gone through his head. He considered immortalizing the experience as a story or in a journal entry, but decided to leave those details to the morning.

The next morning, while Corg was sitting at the kitchen table sipping on some hot chocolate and listening to his wife talk about people from church, the phone rang. Christy answered it.

"Hello?...huh?...Oh…You mean my husband, Corg…one moment."

Christy handed the phone to Corg.

"Hello?...Yeah, that's me…Yes…Hey, how did you--?...Oh really?...Did you talk to both of them?...So, how are they?...And Sari and Laya--…Oh, really?...Man, I wish I could be there…So, how long did you stay--…Oh yeah?...Why sure you can…What do you need…Hmm…that'd be a bit lengthy to do over the phone…okay, I can give you my e-mail that's right…I'll have to send it to you in parts, it's a bit long…okay, no problem…if you go back, say 'hi' to them for me…okay…it was a pleasure, thanks…bye bye."

Corg hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Christy asked, completely befuddled.

"Oh, that was video game developer from Japan. He had—" Corg thought quickly to avoid any pauses that might give away the fact that he was going to lie. "—read some of the stories I had written about video games for one of the websites I regularly visit. He said that he wanted to use some of my ideas on a novel based on the game the three of us were playing."

Christy threw her arms around him, "Why honey, that's great!"

"Thanks, my love."


End file.
